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1 <br />CNAPTERTHREE nttected Environment <br />groundwater dischazge (springs and seeps) and in narrow bands on the sides of some streams. <br />Most wetlands in the study area are wet meadows dominated by a mixture of grasses, sedges, and <br />rushes, including reed canarygrass, Nebraska sedge, Richardson muhly, redtop, timothy, baltic <br />rush, streambank wheatgrass, foxtail barley, narrowleaf sedge, and spikerush. Other species <br />include dandelion, clover, thistle, and sandbaz willow. <br />Piceance Sife <br />Except where the lease area overlaps portions of the Piceance Creek floodplain, there aze no <br />wetlands at the Piceance Site. The wetland delineation (Steigers 1998a) did not cover the ' <br />floodplain of Piceance Creek because the Proposed Action does not include any facilities in this <br />azea. About 10 acres of wetlands occur in Sections 21 and 28 and are mapped on the N WI maps <br />as wet meadows (palustrine emergent wetlands), temporarily or seasonally inundated (CJSFWS <br />1998a). They aze contiguous with larger azeas of wet meadows east of the lease azea in Sections <br />21 and 28, according to the NWI map. <br />Pipeline Corridor <br />Wetlands are known to occur or may occur at a few locations along the pipeline route: <br />• Piceance Creek Crossing #2 (MP 14.0). According to the Steigers (1998a) wetland <br />' delineation, wetlands occur along Piceance Creek in a band about 10-30 feet on either side of <br />the creek. <br />• Stewart Gulch (approximately MP 16.0). A narrow band of wetlands about two feet wide is <br />present on either side of the channel at the second crossing of Stewart Gulch (Steigers 1998a, <br />Avant 1998). <br />• Middle Fork of Stewart Gulch (MP 16.6). R'etlands occur within a narrow floodplain <br />adjacent to the active channel of the creek, and vary in width from 15 to 30 feet (Steigers <br />] 998a). <br />• Middle Fork of Parachute Creek (MP 33.0) and East Fork of Parachute Creek (MP 34.8). <br />Well-developed riparian woodland is present along these streams. This azea was not <br />accessible on the ground during the wetland delineation field work performed by Steigers <br />(1998a) and is not within the CIG ROW delineated by Bio-Resources (1995). The NWI <br />maps do not show any wetlands in these areas. Minor areas of wetland may be present on the <br />edge of the channel or within the riparian woodland. <br />• Pazachute Creek irrigated meadows (MPs 40.0 to 40.2 and 40.8). Much of the route in <br />Pazachute Creek Valley was not accessible on foot during the 1998 field surveys, and the azea <br />was viewed from the road. No wetlands were reported. Bio-Resources (1995) conducted a <br />wetland delineation along a similar route in 1995 and delineated two azeas of irrigation- <br />induced wetlands that overlap portions of the American Soda route. The current status of <br />these wetlands is not known, but they were considered not to be jurisdictional wetlands by <br />Bio-Resources (1995). The only appazent source of hydrology is the Low Cost Ditch, which <br />is located immediately upgradient, and the soils in these areas generally lack indicators of <br />hydric conditions. <br />Wetlands 3-39 <br />