Laserfiche WebLink
west of Wetland B. Grassland in the project area is generally dominated by nonnative <br />species of perennial and annual graminoids including smooth brome, orchard grass, <br />Kentucky blue grass, reed canary grass, yellow foxtail and timothy. A few weedy forbs <br />are present including horseweed, wormwood and Canada goldenrod. In general, <br />grassland consisting of long grass will decrease, while grassland consisting of short grass <br />will increase as a result of the project. Grassland cover types will increase to over 26 <br />acres under proposed conditions. <br />Cropland <br />A total of 292.4 acres of cropland is present on the site under existing conditions. The <br />majority of this cropland has been planted to soybeans or corn. All cropland will be <br />converted to other land covers as a result of the project. <br />Residential/Commercial/Transportation <br />A total of 46.32 acres of residential/commercial/transportation cover types are presently <br />located on the site. The majority of these cover types contain low percentages of <br />impervious surfaces. Under proposed conditions, the total acreage and percentage <br />impervious will increase significantly. The total acreage of this cover type under <br />proposed conditions will be 328.19 acres, the majority of the project area acreage. <br />Summary of Environmental Impact. The composition of cover types within the RTC will <br />change substantially from an area dominated by row -crop agriculture with scattered <br />forest and wetland, to urbanized land uses with no agricultural land. Item 11 of this <br />document will discuss natural cover type changes more fully within the context of <br />wildlife habitat. Item 12 will discuss cover type changes with respect to water resource <br />impacts, while Item 17 will discuss how this land use conversion impacts storm water <br />runoff quantity and quality. <br />Mitigation element. The only issue related to cover type to emerge during this review is <br />the alteration of wetlands, which is discussed in the mitigation element under Item 12. A <br />complete discussion of loss of cover types with respect to fish, wildlife and ecologically <br />sensitive resources follows in Item 11. <br />10-5 <br />