Summary of Monitoring and Research at Cottonwood Ranch

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Summary of Monitoring and Research Conducted within the Cottonwood Ranch Property and General Monitoring Transects by the USGS FY 2001 Prepared by Paul Kinzel and Randy Parker U.S. Geological Survey For Committee's of the Platte River Cooperative Agreement January 10, 2002 1. Background The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in conjunction with representatives from the Technical Committee and representatives from the Executive Director's office of the Platte River Endangered Species Partnership (PRESP) developed a monitoring and research plan for Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's (NPPD) Cottonwood Ranch Property "Research Protocol for Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's Cottonwood Ranch Property" prepared for the Technical Committee July 10, 2000. This document described the overall goals and objectives of the monitoring and research to be conducted at the Cottonwood Ranch in addition to discussing data collection and analysis methods. At the time the protocol was written, development and enhancement of the Cottonwood Ranch Property was anticipated to begin in September or October of 2000. Given this time frame it was also anticipated tHat data collection would be initiated prior to management activities and continue for two years following management action. The delay of management action has allowed a full year of "pre-treatment" or baseline data to be collected. This report summarizes the data collection and research activities conducted between September 2000 and October 2001 by the USGS. USGS monitoring and research conducted on and near the Cottonwood Ranch for fiscal year 2001 are described below. The work categories are first summarized. These work categories are repeated in the following section listing the expenses for each category. Excess between USGS costs and budgeted costs represent USGS contribution to program.