Platte River Threat: Irrigation and Water Supply Development

• File Number: 8461.250
• Description: Water Issues
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Author: Chad Smith, Duane Hovorka
• Title: Platte River Threat: Irrigation and Water Supply Development
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

gets in the Platte River.
Officials from all three basin states, most
notably Colorado, have called for additional
water contributions from "forest manage-
ment." This is a euphemism for clearcutting
large swaths of the national forests along the
river's headwaters to increase the amount of
runoff reaching the river. This theory has been
widely discredited, as it increases flooding
while reducing the amount of water reaching
the river through groundwater. Not only
would increased clearcutting damage the eco-
logical health of the forest, any extra water
reaching the river would carry a heavy sedi-
ment load that could smother many of
Wyoming and Colorado's "gold medal" trout
streams.
WHAT CAN BE DONE IN THE
NEXT 12 MONTHS
This fall, the Department of the Interior (DOI)
is expected to release a Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) on a$150 million
plan for managing the tri-state Platte River
basin. This forthcoming document is an
important step towards executing a Coopera-
tive Agreement signed by DOI and the three
Platte River basin states in 1997. DOI and the
three states should cement their commitment
to full implementation of the goals of that
agreement before allowing new agricultural
water projects to go forward in the Platte
River basin.
Some steps called for in the Cooperative
Agreement, such as protecting and restoring
10,000 acres of riparian habitat and establish-
ing a research and monitoring program for
imperiled river species, are straightforward.
However, the persistent drought will test the
states' continued commitment to other steps,
such as annually securing up to 150,000 acre-
feet of water to better meet instream flows,
and offsetting any new water uses in the basin
with conservation measures to maintain river
flows.
The release of the DEIS will be followed by
a series of hearings that will push the Cooper-
ative Agreement plan into the public spotlight
and spur substantial debate in all three states
over its provisions. With the parties commit-
ted to developing a final plan under the Coop-
erative Agreement in 2004, the public should
take advantage of the public comment period
to alert the federal and state leaders that they
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want strong measures to protect the Platte COLORADO, WYOMING, AND
River enshrined in the final agreement. NEBRASKA SHOULD CfiMENT

C O N T A C T S THEIR CONSERVA710N
COMMITMENT3 ALONG THE
CHAD SMITH, American Rivers, (402) PLATTE BEFORE CONTEM-
477-7910, [e-mail] PLATIN6 NEW WATER DEVEL-
DUANE NOVORKA, Nebraska Wildlife Federa- oPMEN*5.
tion, [phone], [e-mail]
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FOR MORE iNFORMATION OR
TO TAKE ACTION:
W WW.AMHRICANRIVER9.ORG/
MOSTENDANGEREO/
PLATTE2003.HTM
PLATTE RIVER S 27
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