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1 <br />INTRODUCTION <br />l. Background on EstablisYunent of the Joint Study and the <br />Workgroups. <br />On March 25, 1983, the Regional Directors of the Fish and <br />Wildlife Service (Service) and Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) <br />agreed to establish the Platte River Management Joint Study <br />(PRMJS). Working groups of the PRMJS are made up of Service, Bureau, and Corps of Engineers representatives, water <br />development interests, representatives of CoZorado, Nebraska, and <br />Wyoming, and environmental groups (Table 1). The Workgroups are <br />charged with developing a wildlife management plan for the Platte <br />River ecosystem in central Nebraska. Objectives of the ' <br />management plan will be developed in two phases. Phase 1 <br />involves alternatives to remove the jeopardy opinion for the <br />proposed Narrows Unit in Colorado, pursuant to the Endangered <br />Species Act. Phase.2 ot the study addresses the habitat needs of <br />nonlisted migratory birds and resident species which use Platte <br />River habitats'. This report addresses issues associated with <br />Phase 1 of the Joint Study. <br />The Secretary of the Interior was petitioned by water development <br />interests in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming in November 1984:to <br />establish a joint State/Federal Platte River Coordinating <br />Committee. The Committee was ultimately made up of the Regional <br />Directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 5ervice and Bureau of <br />Reclamation; Director, Nebraska Department of Water_ Resources; <br />Executive Director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources; and <br />an appoiritee of the Governor of..Wyoming. ?: .. <br />The Coordinating Committee adopted the following statement of <br />purpose for Phase 1 of the.Joint Study: <br />"The.purpose of.the parties involved in Phase 1 of the Platte <br />River Management Joint Study is to cooperate in discussions <br />seeking ways to develop and implement-recovery plans and programs <br />which will enable Federal agency actions associated with water <br />project development and depletions in the Platte River basin to <br />proceed in compliance with the Endangered Species Act while <br />avoi.ding conflicts between the Endangered Species Act and state <br />water rights systems and the use of water, apportioned to a state <br />pursuant to the compact arid decrees concerning the waters of the <br />Platte River and its tributaries." The Coordinating Committee established a Steering Committee and <br />three workgroups -- biology, hydrology, and*management <br />alternatives. Along with the State and Federal agencies, the <br />water development interests and environmental groups were <br />represented on the Steering Committee and the workgroups. The <br />Coordinating Committee abolished the Steer.ing Committee in <br />February 1988.