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all winter long. As a municipality, Greeley can call on the river to supply domestic water, and <br />thus satisfy the beneficial use requirement. Each organization contributes a proportion of the flow <br />for fish habitat, coordinated in a way that doesn't put at risk the allotment of any one. The users <br />control the water, including when one opens their gates and others close theirs, retaining <br />autonomy within the Colorado Prior Appropriations Doctrine. Under the JOP, rights to the water <br />are retained by all three water organizations by arranging to release water for use by Greeley. <br />Permitees continued to operate under the terms of the old permits while the JOP was being <br />negotiated, awaiting environmental documentation and decisions. By August 1994, <br />environmental statements had beeri completed and the Forest Supervisor had issued decisions on <br />the necessary permits. Each permit application was decided separately, with individual <br />requirements regarding protection of the river habitat. The Forest Supervisor determined that the <br />issuance of the five permits, might require additional actions by the permitees in support of the <br />Central Platte Recovery Program i;n Nebraska. The JOP was devised to function within the larger <br />political context of the on-going negotiations regarding critical habitat along Nebraska's Central <br />Platte river. The biggest point tha1: emerged out of the whole struggle was, however, that neither <br />the federal agencies nor the state water users could obtain what they wanted without cooperation <br />of the other. <br />39