CA Series - Part IV

NWU Radio Script

11-5-01

Today in our fourth and final program on the Cooperative Agreement we will take a look at what will happen if there isn't a Platte River program.

With three states and a myriad of federal agencies involved in the North and South Platte River Basins the program vs. no program scenario gets very complex.

In the Central Platte Natural Resources District Summer 2001 newsletter it is noted that under the Endangered Species Act, federal agencies must ensure that the water projects they operate, or for which they provide federal permits or funds, should not jeopardize threatened or endangered species or their habitat. If a project could have adverse impacts, its operation must be modified or other measures taken.

Many water projects in the Platte River Basin are now or will soon be undergoing a review of their impacts on endangered species. Because these involve both public and private storage, diversion, irrigation and hydroelectric projects in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, the three states believe the best approach to addressing the ESA issues is a basin-wide, cooperative effort.

If there isn't a program, it is unlikely there will be a basin-wide approach for resolving endangered species issues related to the central Platte. In addition, it is unclear which projects the Fish and Wildlife Service would be obligated to review, leaving individual projects to individual review by the Service to determine if they are impacting water quality, timing of flows or sediment build up. Financially, the repercussions of such individual reviews could be devastating.

The Platte River Governance Committee has said that it is their hope that a basin-wide program will be adopted that will benefit the listed species and enable new and existing water uses to proceed without additional actions required under the ESA.

This is a critical factor because water projects in the Platte River Basin, including 15 major dams, provide municipal and industrial water supplies to about 3.5 million people, irrigate millions of acres of farmland, and generate millions of dollars of hydroelectric power. These projects also provide flood control, recreation and fish and wildlife habitat.

Severely altered flows under individual review could mean crop failures, loss of power, loss of economic development opportunities and changes in existing habitat.

The proposed program will be implemented in phases and includes measures to enhance river flows. During the first increment, roughly the first 13 years of the program, the goals are to reduce so called "shortages" in target flows from 130,000 to 150,000 acre-feet (af) of water per year.

The long-term goal is "sufficient water" for the endangered species. That amount will be determined as the program progresses by using a concept called adaptive management.

Each state will provide for the mitigation of any future depletions that reduce flows compared with the FWS's target flows. This remains a grey area in all three states as it could severely impact economic development.

The first 70,000 af will come from three water re-regulation projects: an environmental account already in use on Nebraska's Lake McConaughy, the Tamarack Project in Colorado, and the Pathfinder Modification Project in Wyoming.

These three projects put no additional water in the river, they just change the timing of releases. The remaining water will be developed through water supply and water conservation projects involving willing participants.

How these additional projects will be developed will hinge on the findings of COHYST (Cooperative Hydrology Study), which was developed to improve understanding of the hydrological and geological conditions in the Platte River Basin upstream of Columbus.

The study's goal is to provide scientific data and detailed groundwater models to more accurately identify the relationship between Platte River flows and the groundwater within the Platte River and adjoining basins.

Funds from the Nebraska Environmental Trust have allowed continuation of the study with COHYST 2. The continued study will better assist Nebraska in meeting obligations under the Agreement, assist the Platte River Natural Resources Districts in providing appropriate regulations and management and provide Nebraskans with a basis to develop policy and procedures related to ground water and surface water and help Nebraskans analyze proposed activities of the Cooperative Agreement.

So much remains up in the air and completion of these and other studies too numerous to mention becomes critical as the states work toward a CA deadline in 2003.

To learn more about the CA, check the Governance Committee's website at www.platteriver.org.

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