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a great influence on where and how people move about the site. The same plantings can provide <br />food, sanctuary and homes for various animals, birds, insects and reptiles. Providing trails, <br />viewing platforms with various educational elements like kiosk bring more people to the site <br />which creates a safer condition for the user. It also helps control the movement of the users and <br />educates them to the needs and life cycles of the varied wildlife on site. This type of passive <br />recreation has been modeled in many projects and been very successful. Currently in Eugene, <br />Delta Ponds is a good example of this type of management and use of a water body. <br />Enhancements to the pond habitat increase the productivity of the wildlife making it more <br />enjoyable for people to visit and get acquainted with them. <br />Bank slope adjustments are a major design focus of the project (see "Affected area cross <br />section"). In order to "lay back" the banks of the pond, city staff has gone through several <br />scenarios. The current model extracts over 44,000 cubic yard of material and makes a significant <br />change to the existing banks along the ponds. While the current design meets project goals; it <br />also resolves another issue for a separate but similar project, which is Delta Ponds. The two <br />projects are able to share resources to achieve project design parameters. Delta Ponds requires <br />good material similar to that found in Golden Gardens Ponds to construct "wet benches" along <br />it's shorelines for habitat expansion: Agreements have been reached to move the material <br />excavated from Golden Gardens to Delta Ponds at the time of construction. Layers of soil above <br />and below water level that contain invasive vegetated matter would be removed and placed in <br />uplands at the Golden Gardens site creating natural contours that enhance land form. The amount <br />of this on site soil is estimated to be 6,000 cubic yards. Clean excavated material would be <br />trucked to Delta Ponds and either stockpiled on site or directly placed according to those design <br />parameters. This is a valuable win / win scenario far both projects that allows a sustainable reuse <br />of resources in an ecological manner. <br />Project Impacts: <br />A project this size will have some impacts to the project site and surrounding area below is a <br />discussion of those anticipated impacts and what will be done to minimize them. <br />Wetlands: An initial look at the soil types and wet conditions of the site in part concur with a <br />delineation done in 1996. This delineation id.entifies those areas along the pond shorelines and <br />drainage ways as Wetlands (see attached document "L-9"). A new delineation has not been <br />performed since new methodology was established. Since the purpose and goals of the project <br />are to improve, enhance and increase wetlands and habitat, and that these improvements would <br />dramatically change the bank configurations in a positive way for habitat improvement it was felt <br />delineation prior to this work would not provide much in value to the effort. <br />Bank slope reduction increases the wetted surface perimeter around the ponds and vegetation <br />enhancements will provide increased cover and habitat for aquatic and other species. Once <br />established it is anticipated that wetland conditions will increase and be of higher value than <br />exits now. Fill is anticipated to occur in two places, one is where there is a fiydrologic connection <br />between the main pond and the south pond. This connection will be improved by creating a <br />. porous bank connection that will allow the flow of water to continue between the two channels <br />but discourage the movement of invasive plant species that occurs now (see section). We will <br />also install a flow pipe with gate(s) as a backup to the porous bank separation in case the bank <br />fails to allow flow (sediment plug or ?) and if is necessary to lower the main pond elevation. The <br />;'. other fill location is within the A2 channel to accornplish a more sinuous low flow channeL This <br />,. <br />will provide a deeper water channel and improve temperature conditions as well as discourage <br />Page 10 <br />