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excess and shortage in the operation of Program reregulation and water conservation/supply projects during the first increment, or until such time as new information becomes available which indicates modification 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 1. The proposed Program will be administered using an adaptive resource management (ARM) approach. Using this approach, effects of Program activities on the associated habitats and responses of the target species to those effects will be monitored and evaluated during the first increment of the Program. Based on information obtained through the Program's monitoring and research component, actions and/or adjustments may be identified and implemented, consistent with the purposes of the Program. A Cooperative Agreement (CA) was signed by the states of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado and the Department of the Interior on July 1, 1997, to pursue this effort. The CA was to remain in effect for three years or until the signatories entered into an agreement implementing a Program following completion of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA) processes, whichever occurred first, or until the CA is terminated by the signatories. During 2000, a six month extension to December 31, 2000, a provision of the original CA, was implemented. Prior to December 31, 2000, the CA process to develop a Program was again extended for an additional two and a half years to June 30, 2003. It is anticipated that operations of the EA will eventually be integrated as part of a future basin-wide Program. This EA AOP outlines the Service's general intentions for operation of the EA in the 2001 water year. Changing hydrologic conditions and other considerations may require a change in the guidelines described in this AOP. SUMMARY OF WATER YEAR 2000 Predicted Operations The Districts are required to predict Storable Natural Inflows (SNI) and Water Year-Type (very wet, wet, transitional, dry, very dry) by October 15 of each year. The SNI for October through March is used for calculating "Type-of-Year" whereas the S1vI 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 A). The EA Manager is to be notified by the Districts of any modification to the predictions that would result in a change in the Year Type. To assist the EA manager in developing the EA AOP, the Districts have also provided projections for flows at Overton and Grand Island, based on their predicted operations. The Districts' predictions for SNI and Type-of-Year for the 2000 water year and the actual amounts were as follows: Water Year 2001 EA AOP 2 January 3, 2001