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per year as measured at Grand Island, Nebraska, through re-regulation and water conservation and supply projects. The EA in Nebraska is currently in place and two additional projects, in Colorado and Wyoming, will be developed to supply about 80,000 acre-feet per year toward the Platte River Program's first increment water objective. The remainder of the first increment water objective will be met through a program of incentive-based water conservation and water supply activities described in the Platte River Program's "Reconnaissance-Level Water Action Plan." Service-recommended target flows will serve as the reference point for determining periods of excess and shortage in the operation of Platte River Program re-regulation and water conservation/supply projects during the first increment, or until such time as new information becomes available which indicates modification of the recommended flows is warranted. Recommended target flows are described in detail in the Service's "Instream Flow Recommendations for the Central Platte River" (May 23, 1994) and "Pulse Flow Requirements for the Central Platte River" (August 3, 1994) and summarized in Table 2(pages 9-11). Additional information regarding Service instream flow recommendations and pulse flow requirements, as they relate to the Platte River Program, can be found in, Platte River Recovery Implementation Program, Attachment 5, Section 11, Water Plan Reference Materials (December 7, 2005). This EA AOP outlines the Service's general intentions for operation of the EA in the 2007 water year. Changing hydrologic conditions and other considerations may require a change in the course of action described in this AOP. SUMMARY OF WATER YEAR 2006 The Districts are required to predict Storable Natural Inflows (SNI) and Water Year-Type (i.e., very wet, wet, transitional, dry, and very dry) by October 15 of each year. The SNI for October through March is used for calculating "Type-of-Year" whereas the SNI for October through April is used in assigning contributions to the EA. These predictions establish certain reservoir operating rules during the non-irrigation season (see Appendix B). The EA Manager is notified by the Districts of any modification to the predictions that would result in a change in the Year- Type. When practicable, the Districts have also provided projections for flows at Overton and Grand Island, based on their predicted operations, to assist the EA Manager in developing the EA AOP. The Districts' predictions for SNI and Type-of-Year for the 2006 water year and the actual water volumes were as follows: Item Prediction Actual SNI, October through March 270,000 af 310,200 af SNI, October through April 315,000 af 354,070 af Type-of-Year Very Dry Based on anticipated below average carry-over storage in Lake McConaughy and water supply on the North Platte, the Districts' 2006 Water Year Operation Plan again called for maximizing storage while meeting their minimum operational flow requirements. During the non-irrigation Water Year 2007 EA AOP 2 January 19, 2007