Your install sounds just like ours, 16 inches to level. Took me a week to get rid of all the dirt that I didn't need. We backfilled with the dirt that was removed to level the ground. Our pool store, which are really good people, warrantied the pool even with backfilling of dirt. We didn't use any fabric or plastic.

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...Picture001.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...h/ca5b4a8e.jpg