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<br />J <br />EXHIBIT D-3 <br />Page 2 <br />The General Soil Map was prepared by delineating eight mapping units that <br />differ from each other in the kinds of soil that are present. The soils <br />' in each mapping unit are associated and form patterns that are repeated fro® <br />place to place. They were defined and described according to requirements <br />imposed by the map scale and criteria from the Comprehensive System of <br />Soil Classification, adopted in January 1965. The composition of the units <br />along with related characteristics and interpretative information are shown <br />in Table 1. Readers interested in more detailed information about the <br />classification system should consult technical publications. 1/, 2/ <br />Acreage distribution of mapping units and percent that each occupies is <br />given in Table 2. Composition and related characteristics of each soil <br />mapping unit are given in the following brief narrative descriptions. <br />Soil Mapping Unit 1: Light-colored soils of the deserts <br />r <br />This unit is in Disappointment Valley, mostly in San Miguel County, but a <br />small part extends into Dolores County. This unit is one of the least <br />extensive in the basin. Water intake is slow and runoff is rapid. Erosion <br />is moderate to severe and sediment yield is in the range of 1.0-3.0 acre- <br />feet per square mile per year. <br />The landscape is characterized by a wide oblong valley with rolling shale <br />hills on the north and east and steep barren shale hills to the sovth- <br />east. There are many intermittent drainageways into Disappointment Creek. <br />Most of these drainageways are eroded to depths of 10 to 20 feet and widths <br />of 10 to 50 feet. A sparse cover of shadscale is present with some sagebrush, <br />rabbitbrush, and greasewood along the drainageways. On the upper reaches <br />of the valley there are a few pinyon-juniper. <br />There are three major groups of soils in this unit. Shallow soils derived <br />from Mancos Shale make up about 50 percent of the unit. They have light- <br />colored, calcareous, surface layers, are low in organic matter and have fine <br />and moderately fine textures.. These soils are on rolling hills, mainly <br />~~ on the north and east side of Disappointment Creek. Another 35 percent of <br />the unit consists of deep and moderately deep fine textured alluvial soils. <br />These soils are along Disappointment Creek. They usually have light-colored <br />surface layers although in the upper reaches of the valley they become <br />darker. The soils are moderately saline-alkali and have a slow permeability <br />rate. The remaining 15 percent of the unit consists of reddish-brown, <br />moderately deep soils on small terraces, mainly on the south and west side <br />of Disappointment Creek. Surface layers are light-colored and the <br />permeability rate is moderate. <br />1/ Soil Survey Staff, SCS, USDA <br />"Soil Classification, a Comprehensive System 7th Approximation,^ <br />1960 and as amended through October 1966. <br />2/ Aandahl, Andrew R. <br />"The First Comprehensive Soil Classification System" Journal of <br />Soil and Water Conservation 20:243-246, 1965.' <br />. y ~ ~ J <br /> <br /> ' J <br /> ) <br />.' ~~. <br />