Platte River Endangered Species Cooperative Agreement

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downstream applying loss and lag factors through the reach accounting format of the Tamarack Tracking and Accounting.Spreadsheet to calculate credit for shortage replacement at the critical habitat. . The excess accretions from these existing recharge plans are decreed as "new water" fully consumable under Colorado water law. These excess accretions can be rediverted in Colorado for consumptive use credit. A lease for these excess accretions for the term of the first increment will be developed with those existing recharge plans interested in leasing so the excess accretions are committed to Colorado's Tamarack Plan and will not be rediverted. The periods of these excess accretions are the winter months where the only major river diversions are for hydropower (i.e., Korty and Tri-County Canals) with these hydropower diversions returned to the river farther downstream. This winter period is one of a continuous river with no canals diverting the entire river for consumptive use. These excess accretions will be routed "unprotected" and can be diverted. However, protected versus unprotected is not an issue during this winter period because of the lack of-major consumptive use diverters that divert the entire river. Issues: During times of Program shortages, excess accretions leased from existing ditch recharge water rights will be routed unprotected and credited at the critical habitat towazds Colorado's Tamarack Phase 3. Colorado contends that these excess accretions are not part of any baseline because under Colorado water law they are decreed to be fully reused, rediverted, and consumed to extinction within Colorado. These Colorado recharge water rights will divert under their Colorado appropriation dates, which are senior to July 1997, regardless of shortages or excesses at Grand Island just as McConaughy and Pathfinder storage rights. Also note that the effects on a baseline of environmental accounts in Pathfinder and McConaughy have been accepted. C. Tamarack Phase 2 Tab 3B of the Cooperative Agreement describes Colorado's Plan for Future Depletions. Water development related to population growth will produce periods of net accretions and periods of net depletions at the state line. The facilities of the Tamarack Plan will be used to shift water from these periods of net accretions to the periods of net depletions. Issue: Diversions by Tamarack Plan wells during periods of net accretions produced from new development could coincide with shortage periods at Grand Island with respect to USFWS target flows. Such diversions are acceptable because these net accretions are "new water". . D. Tamarack Tracking Spreadsheet Issues Note that the Tamarack Tracking and Accounting Spreadsheet is a work in progress that will be continually refined as discussed and utilized on a real time basis for daily operations. (1) The Draft Tamarack Tracking and Accounting Spreadsheet (Tam tracking 11 28 . Ol.xls) has an option to distribute or not distribute reach evaporation losses to positive gains in a reach. Evaporation losses are always assigned to measured 2