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:, Pa ge 3 October 10, 1989 Joyce Neville where they are placed in the natural environment, frequently do poorer in the long run than smaller trees. In landscape work the goal is to create an artificially managed environment. This is quite different from mined land reclamation where [he usual goal is to establish a vegetation which can flourish without the addition of any fertilizer, irrigation or other amendments. Thus, in mined land reclamation we try very hard to duplicate the natural processes which would occur if we did nothing. But we try to accelerate the process by helping nature create all those initial conditions. In nature, creating those initial conditions can sometimes take decades. The goals and methods of landscapers and land reclaimers are therefore quite different. We are not averse to using a slightly larger tree size, but even two gallon trees might be too old to adapt well to the much harsher conditions of the wilds of Williams Canyon when compared to the pampering they receive in the nursery. Please keep in mind [hat most native plants are often far less adaptable than they seem. With regard to the hydrologic aspects, we cannot possibly change to a 100 year storm design. Our engineers tell us that to build such a pond would be impossible in the amendment area and the only solution would be to divert the stream channel totally into the quarry. Although such would be possible, resulting in the main quarry pit becoming essentially the sediment basin, diversions carry other repercussions which are more difficult to deal with than some extra sediment. lJater rights could be interfered with and the reduction of flows below the diversion point would very likely alter the character of the vegetation in the drainage all the way to the main stream in Williams Canyon. Therefore, we strongly believe that following the recommendations of our engineers, which are based on the design requirements imposed by the regulatory agency, is the best route to follow. We also wish to point out that very large storms which drop great quantities of water do not often drop their water loads on very small plots of ground. The clouds of super storms often are measured in tens or even hundreds of miles in diameter. Although such storms can have highly variable rainfall amounts within their structure, the likelihood of a super storm dropping a 200 year flood amount on the amendment area and only a 25 year amount in Williams Canyon less than 1000 feet away is essentially zero. If this amendment was 1/2 mile from the canyon we would agree it