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<br />Fish habitat created by the Texas Crossing will be flushed during high water stages of river <br />serving to improve endangered fish habitat by eliminating stagnant pool conditions supportive of <br />competing nonnative fishes. Flushing events that provide shallow water with low flow velocities <br />into constructed benches will also benefit wetlands by providing organic deposition and nutrient <br />cycling. Emergent vegetation will help regulate water flows by attenuating high flow velocities. <br />3.3 Time Lapse <br />Temporal loss of wetlands will be minimized by moving wetland soils and vegetation directly into <br />prepared benches. Vegetation transplants will betaken with sufficient soil mass to minimize <br />disturbance to root system thus reducing shock. These strategies will improve transplant success <br />and expedite reestablishment of vegetation. <br />Constructed wetland benches, depending on size, can be prepared and ready for vegetation in one <br />to two months. Excavation and placement of wetland vegetation and soil will take 2 to 3 weeks. <br />i Measures will be taken to ensure constructed bench hydrology maintains saturated conditions <br />prior to placement of wetland materials. Constructed wetland habitat should become established <br />in the first year post development. The value and function of these systems will continue to <br />increase over time with long-term goals being met within 3 years after habitat has developed. <br />I 3.4 Estimated Cost <br />Mitigation costs for constructing wetlands in the Mesa County area range from $10,000/acre for <br />simple projects and up to $80,000/acre for projects requiring extensive earthwork. These <br />estimates are based on local contractor costs and land values when purchase transactions are <br />involved. <br />' Mitigation at this site uses the lower estimate because land is already owned and contractual work <br />will be performed by project proponent. The estimated price for this mitigation project is <br />' approximately $160,000. The biggest cost, associated with removing and backfilling overburden, <br />is an assumed mining operational expense and is not included in mitigation cost. Cost estimates <br />include establishing wetland vegetation, monitoring and consultation expenses, and generation of <br />annual performance reports. <br />Construction of Texas Crossing is also not considered in this estimate. Associated expenses such <br />as grading and installation of control structures (inlet and outlet) are considered as mining costs <br />rather than separate mitigation costs. <br />3-2 <br />