Laserfiche WebLink
0 <br />• <br />0 <br />ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNT <br />2008 WATER YEAR ANNUAL OPERATING PLAN <br />(DRAFT October 26, 2007) <br />INTRODUCTION <br />An Environmental Account (EA) of water in Lake McConaughy in Nebraska was established on <br />October 1, 1999, as per Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID) and <br />Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) (collectively, Districts) Federal Energy Regulatory <br />Commission (FERC) licenses, for Project 1417 and Project 1835, respectively. The EA is <br />managed by an EA Manager appointed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), and was <br />established primarily to benefit four federally listed threatened or endangered "targeY" species <br />(i.e., whooping crane, interior least tern, piping plover, and pallid sturgeon). The EA Manager is <br />required to develop an Annual Operating Plan (AOP) for releases from the EA in coordination <br />with an EA Committee (EAC) by the end of October of each year. Guidelines and operating <br />rules for the EA are described in the FERC licenses and in Attachment 5, An Environmental <br />Account for Storage Reservoirs on the Platte River System in Nebraska, of the Platte River <br />Recovery Implementation Program. <br />The EA AOP for the 2008 water year consists of three main parts as follows: 1) Background; 2) <br />Summary of Water Year 2007; and 3) Water Year 2008 Projections and EA Release Priorities. <br />Attachments to this document include: <br />Appendix A: EA Water Year Comparisons (page 19) <br />Appendix B: Reservoir Operating Rules during the Non-Irrigation Season for Predicted <br />Year Types (pages 20-21) <br />Appendix C: J-2 Hydrocycling Agreement (pages 22-28) <br />Appendix D: PRRIP, Attachment 5, Section 1, Program Water Management Process <br />(pages 29-35) <br />Appendix E: Reference List of Documents Relevant to EA Operations (page 36) <br />Appendix F: Notes on Pulse Flow Worksheet (pages 37-41) <br />Appendix G: Graphs of Lake McConaughy Inflow (page 42), Provisional USGS Flows <br />and mean daily EA water delivered at Overton, Kearney, and Grand Island <br />stream gages (pages 43-51) <br />Appendix H: Schematic Diagram of the Platte River and Diversion Systems between <br />Lewellen/Julesburg and Overton (page 52) <br />BACKGROUND <br />On July 1, 1997, a Cooperative Agreement (CA) was signed by the states of Nebraska, <br />Wyoming, and Colorado and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to develop a basin- <br />wide Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP, or Platte River Program) to <br />improve and maintain habitats associated with four federally listed, target species in the Platte <br />River basin. A long-term objective of the Platte River Program is to provide sufficient water to <br />and through the central Platte River to benefit the target species and their associated habitats. <br />Water Year 2008 EA AOP <br />October 15, 2007