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TO: Governance Committee <br />FROM: Executive Director's Office <br />RE: Program Budget <br />DATE: July 11, 2005 <br />Several updates and additions have been made to the Program Budget since it was last <br />reviewed in June 2005. These updates and additions are explained below. <br />1) Placeholder added for estimate of EA Bypass flows (e.g., decreased power <br />production, associated costs, etc.). The estimate developed at the July 12-13 <br />meeting will be included at the appropriate location in the spreadsheet. <br />2) The budget for island leveling activities has been modified based on EIS Team <br />estimates of annual sediment augmentation needed (approximately 270,000 <br />yards/year) and costs currently being paid by NPPD to move sediment at <br />Cottonwood Ranch (approximately $1/yard). New estimated budget is <br />$3,630,000. Budget estimate included in June was $10,360,000. June budget <br />estimate included a per yard charge of $3. <br />3) The monitoring and research budget was modified to include approximately <br />$13M for documenting and monitoring "other species of concern" on Program <br />lands, $1 M for wet meadow quality monitoring, and $400K for augmenting any <br />existing water quality monitoring in the central Platte region. The inclusion of <br />water quality monitoring was identified by the GC and the need for more detailed <br />monitoring for other species and wet meadow quality was identified by the FWS <br />in developing the BO. <br />a. Other species of concern - estimate assumes approximately 10 Program <br />land parcels surveyed for breeding birds annually along with some <br />additional species surveys at a cost of $ 1 0,000/parcel. <br />b. Wet meadow quality - the additional $1 M will augment the amount <br />currently identified for wetland quality monitoring in the IMRP (see IMRP <br />Table 1). The $1M estimate is based on experience in implementing the <br />vegetation monitoring and research at Jeffrey Island and Cottonwood <br />ranch and modification of the methods after the implementation. These <br />experiences provide an estimate of $60/acre for monitoring of wet <br />meadows. We assumed approximately 1250 acres of wet meadows for <br />monitoring for the first increment. <br />4) The budget for independent peer review was increased by $1M to allow assistance <br />by outside experts in implementing the adaptive management plan. Budget <br />remains to peer review reports, protocols, etc. The additional funds will allow <br />payment for approximately 2 people at Ph.D. level at '/4-time to participate on an <br />annual basis throughout the first increment.