How To Use This CD-ROM

This site contains a wealth of information on the soils of Colusa County, California. Browsing through the menus, you will find a variety of maps, written descriptions, and interpretive tables with detailed information on the 127 soil mapping units. Further helpful information on natural resources topics can be accessed as well.

The site has the same structure as the printed soil survey report with sections and subsections, in the form of a dynamic menu or table of contents.  To expand the main section menus, click the 's.  The subsections will become visible.  To close or collapse the section menus, click the 's.  

The typical soil survey user may simply want to locate their site on a soils map and go directly to the mapping unit description for that soil. To do this, click on "Introduction-Index to Maps". At the following page, click on "Index to Maps (View)". This will take you to a gridded base map of Colusa County, comprised of 33 quadrangle maps. Find your general location, and click on the appropriate quad map sheet. Once the map has fully loaded on the page, use the scroll bars to move to your location. When you find your site, simply click on the MUID's pull down menu, then place cursor on the 3-digit soil map unit number and click. This will take you to the description page. Scroll up or down on that page for a description of the representative soil profile for that soil series. 

If you are interested in printing maps, click "Detailed Soil Maps" from the menu on the left, then "Downloading Maps". This will take you to a gridded base map of Colusa County, comprised of 35 quadrangle maps. That page includes instructions to download a map. The maps are in .tif format and have been compressed (zipped) for downloading.  These .tif files can be loaded into most PC applications from which you can print graphics.  You may also view the maps and print directly from your browser. 

If you’re only interested in a soils description, skip the map steps and click on the next to "Detailed Soil Map Units" from the menu on the left, then click on the desired soil map unit appearing on the menu that opens.  A description of the mapping unit is displayed.

Specific topics listed below can be found by clicking on the following menu items:

Soil Properties   Summary of Tables
Engineering Properties   Temperature and Precipitation
Textural Properties Freeze Dates in Spring and Fall
AASHTO Classifications Growing Season
Physical Properties Acreage and proportionate extent of the soils
Chemical Properties Yields per Acre of Crops
Physical and Chemical Analyses of Selected Soils Land Capability Classification
Soil Features Prime Farmland
Water Features Farmland of Statewide Importance
Use & management of the soils Storie Index Rating for Agricultural & Rangeland Uses
Prime Farmland Storie Index Rating for Timberland
Farmland of Statewide Importance Rangeland Productivity & Characteristic Plant Communities
Crops and Pasture Management Urban & Recreation (Part 1)
Field and Row Crop Management Urban & Recreation (Part 2)
Rice and Small Grain Management Building Site Development (Part1)
Orchard Management Building Site Development (Part 2) 
Yields per Acre Sanitary Facilities (Part 1)
Land Capability Classification Sanitary Facilities (Part 2)
Major Land Resource Areas Construction Materials (Part 1)
Storie Index Construction Materials (Part 2)
Rangeland Water Management
Wildlife Engineering Index Properties
Engineering Physical Properties of the Soils
Urban and Recreation Chemical Properties of the Soils
Water Management Erosion Properties of the Soils
  Water Features
  Soil Features
  Selected Physical Laboratory Data
  Selected Chemical Laboratory Data
  Classification of the Soils