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MINING PLAN <br />I. EXISTING LAND USE <br />EXHIBIT D <br />The site is nearly rectangular in shape and is bound by Interstate 70 to the south, 15 Road to the <br />west, Excel Energy substation, a ranch and Highway 6 to the north and a few small ranches and a <br />few lots of the Pabco Industrial Park to the east. The property west of 15 Road was previously used <br />as part of a petroleum refining facility which ceased to operate several years ago. <br />The site is divided into two benches: the upper bench occupies the northern t/z of the property and is <br />approximately 14-18 feet higher than the lower bench. The upper bench area has historically been <br />used for irrigated alfalfa, which was cut one or two times per season. The lower bench (15` terrace <br />above the Colorado River) occupies the lower Yz of the property and has historically been used for <br />irrigation of alfalfa and dryland grazing of saltgrass. United stopped irrigation when they bought <br />the property in May 1995. Since that time, the site has basically been used for wildlife habitat. One <br />main return irrigation canal runs through the property delivering irrigation return water from north- <br />east of the project site to the Colorado River. There is also one abandoned canal which has some <br />standing water at the bottom but is not fully connected to the return system. Both benches are less <br />than 1% grade to the River and there is a steep slope of 15 feet between the two benches, <br />There are also some relict stands of cottonwoods on the southeast border of the permit area, as <br />shown in the Savage site report in Appendix C. This report designates the drainage canals (0.28 <br />acres) as waters of the United States, although they are not considered valuable. The report also <br />designates one small marsh and Swale (0.67 acres) near the southeast part of the permit area as a <br />jurisdictional wetland. The disturbed area has been designed to avoid the marsh and Swale jurisdic- <br />tional wetland. A total of 1.26 acres of jurisdictional wetland is found within [he general area. <br />United is working with the COE on the appropriate permitting for the disturbance of the minor ca- <br />nal wetlands. It is evident that the fringe wetlands created by the lakes will far exceed the amount <br />of wetlands disturbed by the operation. <br />15 Road Pit 10/02 5 <br />