Review of Preliminary Draft Proposal

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REVIEW OF PRELIMINARY DRAFT Proposal for Monitoring and Research Demonstration Project on Nebraska Public Power District's Cottonwood Ranch Property Submitted to the Platte River Endangered Species Partnership (PRESP) Review by Peter J. Murphy Sedimentation and River Hydraulics Group Technical Service Center, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation March 3, 2000 PROPOSAL SUMMARY Nebraska Public Power District has both a development plan for Cottonwood Ranch(1), and a joint (together with Central Nebraska Power and Irrigation District) monitoring plan (2) for the lands provided by the Districts for habitat, on file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to fulfil, in part, the license requirements for Kingsley Dam and Keystone Diversion Dam. These requirements focus on the expansion and improvement of habitat for three endangered species: least terns, piping plovers and whooping cranes. One of the management actions in the development plan for Cottonwood Ranch is to remove woody vegetation from the banks of various channels of the Platte River. The objective of that action is: "Develop and enhance main channel areas free of woody vegetation of a width sufficient to provide secure roosting habitat for whooping cranes and nesting habitat for least terns." The present proposal covers two management actions, 1) the removal of woody vegetation from 95 acres along the island banks of a channel of the Platte River, and 2) the deepening of 7000 linear feet of old channels on the islands and placement of the spoil near the tops of the existing islands. "The overall goal of this monitoring and research is to evaluate management practices." The benefit of the proposed project is the definition of the channel/habitat response to the management actions, especially the removal of woody vegetation. The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) would provide the data and analysis. The monitoring and research proposed include the following tasks: a) topographic surveys of 8 complete cross sections, 4-6 times per year, b) sediment sampling of 8 complete cross sections, 4-6 times per year, c) ground photography of 8 complete cross sections, 4-6 times per year, d) installation of three staff gages far measuring water levels, e) cross sectional measurements of flow rate at 3 gage sites, 12 times per year, f) reading the water level of staff gages at 3 sites, 2-3 times per week, g) topographic surveys of 50 single channel cross sections, once per year, h) sediment sampling of 25 single channel cross sections, once per year, i) ground photography of 50 single channel cross sections, once per year j) analysis of the data using computer models of the river hydraulics and sediment transport to assess the impacts of clearing the woody vegetation on channel geometry and species habitat, and k) preparation and publication of two data reports and an interpretive report, the latter published