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weeds is difficult as herbicides often have only limited impact on their growth. Mechanical control in the form of mowing is often the best control. Because these species tend to have seeds that remain viable for only a year or two, if they can be kept from producing seed their dominance declines rapidly. The difficulty is keeping them producing seed as they will quickly adapt to mowing and produce seed below the mowing level and they are heavy seed producers. In addition to these problems, continued disturbance of the ground encourages continued presence of the weeds and each time the ground is re-seeded because of a seed failure it restarts the weed cycle. Also these species tend to be quite tolerant of saline and sodic soils and therefore have not only a population advantage over more desirable perennials but also have an adaptive advantage to soil conditions that are often limiting to more desirable species. In 2003 it was decided to alter the seeding approach and implement a much more intensive weed management system in hopes that climatic patterns would be more favorable than they have been and an establishment of the grasses will be accomplished. If the species used can become established they will quite readily remain on the site for a long time; the problem is getting to that point. The Reclamation Permit also required significant river setbacks where no disturbance would occur. Although the older portions of the permitted land did not have a very wide setback requirement and often allowed disturbance almost to the river bank, newer permitted land had wider setbacks and those have been carefully followed where new adjacent disturbances were created. In some of the older permit areas the original setbacks were established but river flooding removed much of the setback resulting in disturbance that occurs right to the river's edge. As a result, much or all of the river bank area within 100 feet of the river has never been disturbed during the course of the permitted operations, but not all is in that condition. The River Project: Most of the materials provided in this investigative report are derived from the plans prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These include project specifications, maps, and plans. In reviewing the project plans and specifications it is clear that the Corps has done a great deal of work in planning the project and most every conceivable situation has been addressed in one fashion or another, except for how the Reclamation Permit and the project can work together. Materials included are as follows: A one page description of the project, the many parties involved and the sources of the funding. This was provided by Scott Hobson of Pueblo Planning. 2. Pages extracted from the project specifications: These pages were selected because of their relevance to the kinds of subjects and concerns often contained in Reclamation Permits. The specifications include the sections covering Stabilized Fill (15 pages), Stone Bamers (4 pages), Seeding (7 pages), and Lunkers (2 pages). A series of 11" x 17" maps from the those portions of the plans that are relevant to this site and the Reclamation Permit. These include: a. Plate 2 -shows the location of the permit area relative to the much larger project area. Pueblo West Pit and River Restoration Project Investigation Report Page 2 of 6