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!.' "Agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Geological Survey, and the State of Nebraska should jointly investigate and reach an agreement on the relationship between flows and effects on habitat and ecosystems in the Overton to Grand Island reach of the Platte River." This was one of the earliest indications that a comprehensive study of the resource base was needed before viable options for further utilization of Platte River water could be formulated or evaluated. In 1975, the FWS presented a second proposal based on voluntary landowner participation. The FWS believed that between Sutherland and Chapman, a distance of 180 miles, from 6,000 to 15,000 acres of suitable habitat could be purchased from willing sellers, and up to 45,000 acres could be protected under a voluntary easement program. This proposal was also unacceptable to the State of Nebraska and others, who continued to express strong interest in the undetermined impacts of such action on future potential water use for other purposes. In mid-1976, meetings were held among representatives from the State of Nebraska, the Nebraska congressional delegation, the USDI, and the MRBC staff concerning these matters. At that point, the FWS was preparing to conduct a feasibility-type study on the refuge proposal and Nebraska was looking to the MRBC to ensure coordination of a joint State-Federal planning effort. Concerns expressed at the meetings led to further discussion between the Secretary of the Interior and the Governors of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. In November 1976, the Secretary wrote to these Governors expressing his concern that the hydrology and ecology of the riverine habitat of the platte River were not well known. He indicated that USDI would move to fill the information and data gaps needed to identify alternative water management and operational practices which rIJ e., ..",., -2-