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PLATTE RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM <br />Attachment 5 <br />Section 1 <br />Program Water Management Process <br />August 8, 2006 <br />Described below is the Program's water management process and the relationship of the FWS's <br />Environmental Account (EA) Manager and the Program to that process. The relationship is also <br />shown in Figure 1 of the Organizational Structure Document (Attachment 6). <br />1. Background <br />a. Water projects throughout the Platte River basin are operated by various entities in <br />accordance with each state's water laws. The responsibility for accounting, tracking, regulating, <br />and protecting water rests with each state's water administration. <br />b. Pursuant to FERC relicensing reyuirements, an Environmental Account (EA) was <br />established in Lake McConaughy. A contract between Central Nebraska Public Power and <br />Irrigation District (CNPPID) and the FWS authorized the FWS's representative, the EA <br />Manager, to request releases of EA water pursuant to the terms of the contract. The EA Manager <br />is an employee of the FWS and has the responsibility to manage, request releases from, and <br />coordinate operations of the EA. The EA Manager also develops the EA Annual Operating Plan <br />(AOP), including the demands for the EA water. <br />c. Pursuant to FERC relicensing requirements, the document entitled, An Environmental <br />Account for Storage Reservoirs on the Platte River System in Nebraska (Attachment 5, Section <br />5) establishes an Environmental Account Committee (EAC) and Reservoir Coordinating <br />Committee (RCC). The EAC is chaired by the EA Manager and provides guidance/input to the <br />EA Manager for the development of the EA AOP. The RCC provides a forum to coordinate the <br />annual operating plans of other projects and to discuss projected water supply conditions in the <br />basin. The RCC is for coordination purposes only. <br />d. The EA Manager, EAC, and RCC, created to meet FERC relicensing requirements, will <br />continue to exist with or without the Program. <br />e. Relative to Program water management, Project Sponsors include the states in their <br />tracking, accounting, regulating, and protecting Program water; the federal government and the <br />states in the management of their respective depletions plans; CNPPID for the EA in Lake <br />McConaughy; the State of Colorado for Tamarack I; and the State of Wyoming for the <br />Pathfinder Modification Project. In addition, the Program Water Plan provides opportunity for <br />parties outside the Program to enter into cooperative arrangements with the Signatories for <br />meeting Program water goals. <br />August 8, 2006 Water Management Process