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<br />ooosn <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />fall migration to its wintering habitat; in this case the <br />species' spring use period would get higher priority than its <br />fall use period. The rationale is that successful reproduction <br />is the cornerstone to species survival and that if water in the <br />Platte River system is essential to a species reproduction, then <br />its spring use period is more vital to its immediate survival <br />than its fall use period. <br /> <br />(5) If the Platte River or adjacent habitat is designated <br />"critical habitat" for a species, then that species receives a <br />higher rating than other species. The rationale is critical <br />habitat needs water more than habitat not designated critical. <br /> <br />(6) During a given year, if target flows (based on Service <br />recommendations for discussion purposes) for a species were less <br />frequently achieved than target flows for another species during <br />the past 3 years, then the first species would receive a higher <br />rating than the other species. The rationale is that the species <br />which has not received adequate flows during its use period for <br />the last 3 years needs to have a "good" year more than another <br />species which has been having "good" years on a more regular <br />basis. <br /> <br />After the species have been ranked, then managed water would be <br />allocated annually. The most needy species would receive water <br />first and so on down to the least needy species. Species' needs <br />would be based on the Biology Work Group's guidelines and another <br />part of Task 5 entitled "Identify Methods for Calculating and <br />Displaying Habitat Target Flows by Species and River <br />Block/Segment". <br /> <br />It is conceivable that if there is not much managed water <br />accessible or acquired, that one species' use period might need <br />all the available water. For example, during the 10 year period <br />from 1980-89, the average amount of water needed to hold the <br />Grand Island hydrograph at 800 cubic feet per second (cfs) or <br />more from May 11 to September 15 (to meet least tern and piping <br />plover biological needs) would have been 45,293 acre-feet. The <br />range was from 0 acre-feet in 1983 to 73,020 acre-feet in 1989. <br />So if there were 100,000 acre-feet of managed water available <br />during an "average" year, about 50,000 acre-feet (with some slop) <br />would have been used during the summer months. Meanwhile, <br />preliminary data from 1991 indicates that there was a 113,411 <br />acre-feet water deficit from May 11 to september 15 which would <br />have depleted the 100,000 acre-feet water allocation and left the <br />resource lacking. <br /> <br />The following is an outline for a "Central Platte Annual <br />Operating Plan" (CPAOP) which could be developed as a mechanism <br />for setting target flows for each species on an annual basis. <br />central Platte refers to the stretch of Platte River and <br /> <br />2 <br />