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Environmental Account Update Sharon B. Whitmore Environmental Account Manager U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grand Island, Nebraska Date: Apri120, 2004 308-382-6468x18 What is the Environmental Account (EA)? • The EA was established in Lake McConaughy on October 1, 1999, to supplement flows in the Platte River to benefit federally-listed threatened and endangered fish and wildlife species. • The EA is a requirement of Centra( Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's (CNPPID) and Nebraska Public Power District's (NPPD) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licenses for five hydropower plants on the Platte River. • Although important to the Threa-State Cooperative Agreement (CA) effort, the EA will exist with or without the CA or basin-wide Program because of the FERC license requirements. How Much Water is in the Environmental Account? • The amount of water in the EA will vary from year to year depending on the amount of water added, the - amount of water lost to evaporation and seepage, and the amount of water used. • Each year during the non-irrigation season (Oct. through April), 10 percent of the storable inflows into Lake McConaughy will be contributed to the EA. This contribution may never exceed 100,000 acra-feet (afl. • EA water may be carried-over from one Water Year (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30) to the next. • If Lake McConaughy fills to capacity, the EA will be automatically set to 100,000 af. • The total amount of EA water may never exceed 200,000 acre-feet. • The EA is subject to evaporation and seepage losses in Lake McConaughy in proportion to the total amount of water in storage. How Is the Environmental Account Operated? • An EA Manager, an employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), is responsible for requesting releases of water from the EA. • The EA Manager coordinates daily operations with CNPPID, NPPD, and Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR). • The EA Manager may not request releases that will cause or add to flooding along the river. l • EA water can be diverted through hydropower facilities, as long as the appropriate amount of water is returned to the river. • EA water gets assessed the same conveyance gains/losses that irrigation water does as it travels down the river. • DNR is responsible for tracking and accounting for EA water in Lake McConaughy and as it travels down the river to Grand Island. EA Annual Operating Plan • The EA Manager is required to develop an annual operating plan (AOP) for the EA each year, in coordination with an EA Committee made up of representatives from various water-user entities, environmental groups, and state and federal agencies. • In October of each year, the Districts' predict the "Type-of-Year" based on projected inflows into Lake McConaughy and provide the EA Manager with river flow predictions for AOP development. • Service-recommended in-stream flow targets are used as a reference point for determining flow shortages throughout the water year. The flow target periods are then prioritized based on estimated projected flows and shortages, EA volume, hydrologic conditions, and species needs. • A new target period, Carry-Over, was added to the AOP prioritization table in WY2001.