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MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR ACCEPTANCE <br />OF PRELD41NARY WETLAND DELINEATIONS <br />1. A statement that the delineation has been conducted in accordance with the 1987 <br />"Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual." <br />Response: The wetland delineation on the proposed Hogue Gravel Pit expansion area <br />was completed using the standards found in the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation <br />Manual as revised by the April 2008 Interim Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers <br />Wetland Delineation Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys and Coast Region as well as <br />subsequent directives issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. <br />2. A narrative describing the wetlands. <br />Response: A map showing the location of all jurisdictional wetlands on the existing mine <br />and proposed mine expansion area are shown on Map 2, Hogue Pit Expansion Area - Wetland <br />Delineation Map. This map shows that there are five individual areas where jurisdictional waters <br />of the United States exist. Wetland Areas 1 through 5 are located in the vicinity of the proposed <br />mine expansion area. All of these wetlands consist of herbaceous wetlands. <br />Wetland Area 1 is described by wetland sample plots HP-2, HP-3, HP-5, HP-8, HP-14, HP-16, <br />HP-18 and HP-21. This wetland area is located in the bottom of an old oxbow or river overflow <br />channel which has been damned by irrigation ditches. This wetland area is dominated by Beaked <br />Sedge and Spreading Bentgrass. This depressional area is currently being irrigated by irrigation <br />water. There are approximately 104,193 SF or 2.39 acres and occupies approximately 97.36 <br />percent of the wetland area found on this site. <br />Wetland Areas 2 through 5 also are associated with an old oxbow and are dominated mostly by <br />Reed Canarygrass, Sedges and Spreading Bentgrass. These wetland areas correspond to Wetland <br />Sample Plots HP-26, HP-27, HP-29, and HP-32 were sampled in this area. All of these are all <br />herbaceous wetland areas and no willows are associated with these areas although there are some <br />Narrowleaf Cottonwood trees in this area. <br />3. Justification for the wetlands boundaries. <br />Response: As are outlined on pages 65 and 67 of the 1987 Wetland Delineation <br />Manual, the upland-wetland boundary was determined at the point where the upland vegetation <br />becomes dominate. <br />4. The total acreage of the project site. <br />Response: The Hogue Pit Expansion Area contains approximately 23.95 acres. <br />5. Existing field conditions such as season and flood/drought conditions. <br />Response: Field work on this site commenced on October 18' when the staking of the <br />wetland boundaries with the plastic wire pin flags commenced, and the wetland boundary stakes <br />were surveyed in. At this time the northern oxbow was being heavy irrigated and had not been <br />grazed by cattle nor mowed for hay. The field sampling of all of the wetland sample plots was <br />completed on 21 October 2010, while the vegetation was still actively growing and there was an