Platte River endangered Species Recovery Agreement Finalized

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PLATTE RIVER ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY AGREEMENT FINALIZED (Denver, Colorado) Secretary Kempthorne yesterday signed the Platte River Endangered Species Recovery Agreement. The Governors of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado had all signed the Recovery Agreement within the past six weeks. State officials, water users, conservation groups, and the Department of Interior have been negotiating details of the Program since 1997 through a Cooperative Agreement signed by the three Governors and the Department of Interior. The Agreement's goal was to protect the ability of the States to use water and develop water while recovering threatened and endangered species. Originating in Colorado and Wyoming and flowing through Nebraska, the Platte River lies in the heart of the Central Flyway, a transcontinental migratory route for millions of birds including the endangered whooping crane. The Program is not without costs to the States and the Department of Interior. The Program is expected to cost over $300 million over thirteen years. This money will be used for purchasing important habitat in Nebraska, providing water to meet target flows, and to implement an adaptive management plan and integrated monitoring and research plan. The States and the federal government will split the costs of the Program 50%-50%. "This Program builds on the success of Recovery Programs that Colorado has heralded in the Upper Colorado River basin and the San Juan River basin," said Russell George, the Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. "I am pleased that the states and the federal government have been able to stay at the negotiating table in order to finalize this agreement," he said. "This is a watershed event for the water users within the Platte River Basin. We have negotiated a program that will provide benefits to the endangered and threatened species while allowing existing and future depletions to occur within Colorado," said Don Ament, Colorado's Commissioner of Agriculture and the State's representative to the Governance Committee. "With the final signature on the Recovery Program Agreement, the real work associated with the Program will begin." said Rod Kuharich, Director for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. He continued, "This is a historic day for Colorado as water providers within Colorado will be able to continue to develop water with some amount of regulatory certainty without jeopardizing the long-term survival of the species." "This Program is the most efficient way to protect the species while providing regulatory certainty for the many existing and future water projects within the Platte River basins. I look forward to working to make this Program a success." said Ted Kowalski, Project Manager for the CWCB and the Governance Committee alternate representative for the State of Colorado. The Program will begin on January 1, 2007. The Program Agreement and the underlying documents are available on the Service's public access website at: http://vvvvw.fws.gov/filedovvnloads/ftpregion6upload ###