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, Commentary: <br />A Letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission <br />About Nebraska's Platte River <br /> by Vincent H. Dreeszen and Ray Bentall' <br /> Moy 1990 <br />In its "wild" state (that is, prior to riods of no f3ow between NoRh Platte River has "tamed" the Platte River <br />any diversions of river water or to con- and Columbns were not uncommon. Oc- markedly. By holding back high flows <br />struction o[ any dams to create water casionally heavy rainfall in some part of in spring and releasing the stored water <br />. storage) the Platte's f3aw was highly er- the drainage area caUSed temporary high for urigation and power generation, the <br />ratic, a large part of its annual dischazge flows and even flooding during the nor- high flows of the Platte have been re- <br />being due to springtime melting of the mally low-flow scasons. A particularly duced and the low flows increased. The <br />snowpack ie its tr?ountainous headwaier ifiteresting feature of the riatfC's fiaw fiow of tributaries tteat drain irrigated <br />azea. Because the snowpack vazied in regime is d?ai flood flows in one reach lands changed from intermittent to per- <br />vaZusrx ;rvm oae yea; t:, ar,c.:;er and may be lasi to seeyage out :,,` `ie r,'.er enn;all, and atew naw have bc-cvme sait- <br />because melting occurred more rapidly within a downsiream reach. For exam- able for spawning. Since the 611ing of <br />in some yea.rc than in othe*s, the pez4c gle, the lacgest recorded floosi flow con- I.ake MeConaughy, ffloeding 1-y the <br />discharges attd the duration of the high- tributed to Ehe Platte by the Soutb Platte Plaue is a rarity, and the river rarety is <br />flow period differed frorn one year to the River eoutd not be det"ted as an in- without sgmg flow ctwing to iettj[?a flew, s <br />nezt. The Platte's fTow in summer, faIl, crease of the Platte's flow at Grand Is- from i:tigatioa and hydro-power planis <br />and winter generaily was low, and pe- land. The gaining and tosing reaches of and to increased seepage of groundwater <br /> ihe Platte tend to be seasona[, being into the river. tn out view, and in the <br /> closely related to variations in the dis- opinion of many others familiaz with the <br />'CSD hydrogeolgisis emeriti; writien as tribution and amount of precipitation on Platte, the now "conttofled" flow of the <br />a private letter during emeritus (retered) valley lands. Platte has not only been a boon to Ne- <br />stahts 1iuilding of dams on the Notth Platte braslca's ecanomy but also has erchanced <br /> the enviranment for wildlife. For ex• <br /> ample, the number of sandhill ctane! <br />1 staging in the valley each spring has in- <br />" <br />': creased signiftcantly since Lake Mc- <br />Conanghy was created <br />Noi only has the <br /> . <br />popuiation of cranes incceased, but man) <br />:,,/?/ <br />other liEe forms not known fonnerly ec <br />??9 freguent the Platte now axe ehere. Inci. <br />dentally, to our knowledge, no one ha: <br />\ shcwa chai the P:a:.e is essen?:al t? ,ht <br />well beiag af tt?e endangered whoopini <br />crane5 nof that !t gyrF wac_ in flLhe: <br />wocds, the existing water-resource de <br />velopments for hurnan beneFt are re <br />sponsible foc creating a moce salubriou: <br />environment for wildlife. <br />Requiring reIease of water from Lak( <br />McConaughy for the beneft of wildlifi <br />? that pcobably did not frequent the valle; <br />when the Plaue stiU was "`wild" seem. <br />\ ? iudicrous when such changes are detri <br />mental to present day irrigators, produc <br />crs of power, and fishing and othe <br />? re;.,;.a?ia:,al use of L?, <br />?ce 1fcCaraughy <br />Q/ + Faz wise,c, in our view, woei2d be to "leaw <br />•N ,(?, wP!l er.o?sgh a?ooe." F'.II:r? err?e:e, i <br />?V ? seems quite likely that giving in to de <br />mands of wildtife interests cnay lead b <br />, further and more environmentally dele <br />(} . ? terious demands in the future. <br />The current order tha[ a minimum floN <br />of 400 cfs jcubic Feet per second) b <br />maintained during specified petiods b; <br />?? . <br />. \ , <br />. ? <br />• ??