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ALLUVIAL VALLEY FLOOR DETERMINATION <br />CAM - COLORADO PROPOSED COAL LOADOUT NEAR FRUITA <br />MESA COUNTY, COLORADO <br />Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) analysis of the coal to be loaded at the <br />site. <br />Agricultural Practices <br />Agricultural use of land in the vicinity of the proposed loadout is limited to: <br />• Tracts north of Highways 6 and 50; <br />• One small tract south of Highways 6 and 50 and west of Reed Wash; <br />• Larger areas farther west from Reed Wash (west of Loma Drain); and <br />• Limited tracts south of the Colorado River. <br />All of these agricultural tracts are outside of the project area (permit Map 22). Within the <br />project area, all of the land immediately adjacent to both the east and west sides of Reed <br />Wash is not suitable for farming (Appendix A). The uncultivated area extends along both the <br />east and west sides of Reed Wash through the project area between I -70 and Highways 6 and <br />50 (Figure 2). The soils in the uncultivated areas containing primarily greasewood were <br />mapped by the NRCS (2011) as Skumpah silt loam. The Skumpah silt loam is also known as <br />Billings Loam (permit Map 06). The NRCS also mapped Cojam loam along the narrow <br />shallow swales that drain irrigation return flows to Reed Wash and Ustiuvents along Reed <br />Wash (permit Map 06). <br />The Skumpah silt loam soils are considered slightly saline to strongly saline with a <br />Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) of up to 60. Plants begin to experience problems at SAR <br />values greater than about 12 to 15. With respect to Land Capability, the NRCS classifies <br />these soils as "8s," which is defined as "soils and miscellaneous areas (that) have limitations <br />that preclude their use for commercial plant production and limit their use to recreation, <br />wildlife, or water supply or for esthetic purposes." The NRCS classifies the Cojam Loam as <br />"7w," which is defined as "soils (that) have severe limitations that make them unsuited to <br />cultivation and that restrict their use mainly to grazing, forest land, or wildlife." The "w" <br />refers to soils "for which excess water is the dominant hazard or limitation affecting their <br />use. Poor soil drainage, wetness, a high water table, and overflow factors that affect soils in <br />this class." Ustfluvents soils are classified "7c." In addition to the definition above, they are <br />also considered soils subject to "salt desert overflow." <br />2 <br />