Colorado's Plan for Future Depletions (3)

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-, This biological opinion is provided in response to your [Date] request to initiate formal C consultation pursuant to section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). Your Biological Assessment describes the potential effects of the [Project Name] on federally listed species and designated critical habitat. The Federal Action reviewed in this biological opinion is the [provide the Project Name, Location, and a Short Description]. 1. Background On June 16, 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a programmatic biological apinion (PBO) for the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP) and water- related activities2 affecting flow volume and timing in the central and lower reaches of the Platte River in Nebraska. The action area for the PBO included the Platte River basin upstream of the confluence with the Loup River in Nebraska, and the mainstem of the Platte River downstream of the Loup River confluence. The Federal Action addressed by the PBO included the following: 1) funding and implementation of the PRRIP for 13 years, the anticipated first stage of the PRRIP; and 2) continued operation of existing and certain new water-related activities3 including, but ? not limited to, Reclamation and Service projects that are (or may become) dependent on the PRRIP for ESA compliance during the first 13-year stage of the PRRIP for their effects on the target species4, whooping crane critical habitat, and other federally listed speciess that rely on central and lower Platte River habitats. The FBO established a two-tiered consultation process for future federal actions on existing and new water-related activities subject to section 7(a)(2) of the ESA, with issuance of the PBO z The term "water-related activities" means activities and aspects of activities which (1) occur in the Platte River basin upstream of the confluence of the Loup River with the Platte River; and (2) may affect Platte River flow quantity or timing, including, but not limited to, water diversion, storage and use activities, and land use activities. Changes in temperature and sediment transport will be considered impacts of a"water related activity" to the extent that such changes are caused by activities affecting flow quantity or timing. Impacts of "water related activities" do not include those components of land use activities or discharges of pollutants that do not affect flow quantity or timing. 3"Existing water related activities" include surface water or hydrologicatly connected groundwater activities implemented on or before July 1, 1997. "New water-related activities" include new surface water or hydrologically connected groundwater activities including both new projects and expansion of existing projects, both those subject to and not subject to section 7(a)(2) of the ESA, which may affect the quantity or timing of water reaching the associated habitats and which are implemented after July 1, 1997. 4 The "target species" are the endangered whooping crane (Grus americana), the interior least tern (Sternula antillarum), the pallid sturgeon (Scaphirynchus albus), and the threatened northern Great Plains population of the piping plover (Charadrius melodus). C Other listed species present in the central and lower Platte River include the threatened bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara) American burying beetle (Nicrophonis americnnus) and Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis). October 24, 2006 Colorado Depletions Plan 21