7368

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7368
• Author: Meyer, C. H.
• Title: Western Water and Wildlife
• USFW Year: 1989.
• USFW - Doc Type: The New Frontier\
• Copyright Material: NO

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river." Conservationists contend that further depletions in flow will destroy what is left
of the river's remarkable migratory bird habitat; developers say the birds can move
elsewhere.
From roughly Le~ngton to Grand Island, Nebraska, the Platte River provides
some of the most stunningly awesome waterfowl habitat in the world--what is left of
it, that is. Today, seventy percent of the water which once reached the Big Bend no
longer nourishes the habitat there. Instead Platte River water is diverted to irrigate
bluegrass lawns planted to replace sagebrush and buffalo grass in places like Denver,
Fort Collins, and Casper. It also grows crops, spins turbines, and evaporates from
countless reservoirs under the summer sun.
These depletions have transformed much of what was once wide-open river into
a pathetic tangle of rivulets winding through forests of cottonwood and willow. As
streamflows have been reduced and sediment has been blocked by dams, riparian
woodlands have grown up in the shrunken remnant of the formerly two-mile-wide river
channel. This dramatic transformation of habitat poses a grave threat to a variety of
species dependent upon the natural river system with its open waters, exposed
sandbars, and adjacent wetlands. These species include the endangered whooping
crane, least tern, and bald eagle; the threatened piping plover; four-fifths of the world
population of sandhill cranes; over seven million ducks and geese; and hundreds of
other species of birds.
The battlefront now has moved to the U.S. Supreme Court. Nebraska has
petitioned to reopen an old decree allocating the waters of the North Platte among
Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. At first Nebraska hesitated to identify protection
of the Big Bend as the reason the Court should allow more water to flow into the
state. That failure prompted four conservation organizations--the National Audubon
Society, the Sierra Club, the Nebraska Wildlife Federation, and the Platte River
Whooping Crane Habitat Maintenance Trust--to seek intervention in the case on behalf
of the whooping crane and other migratory birds. The conservation groups urged the
Court to revamp the old decree and allocate water specifically to protect wildlife habitat
in Nebraska, as well as for irrigation and municipal use ~
It will be years before the Supreme Court ultimately settles this dispute. The
outcome will say a great deal about the future course of water development. Will water
be allocated and reallocated among western states with an eye to protecting critical
"The Platte River litigation to date has centered over four water projects. In each case,
conservationists have prevailed:
(1) The Grayrocks dam in Wyoming. Nebraska v. Rural Electrification Admin.. 12 Env't
Rep. Cas. (BNA) 1156 (D. Neb. 1978), appeal vacated and dismissed upon stipulation,
594 F.2d 870 (8th Cir. 1979).
(2) The Wildcat Dam in Colorado. Riverside Irrieation Dist. v. Andrews. 758 F.2d 508
(10th Cir. 1985).
(3) The Catherland (Little Blue) Project in Nebraska. In Re Applications A-15145. A:15146.
liesources Dist., slip op., No. 86-692
(4) The Enders Project in Nebraska. F
410 N.W.2d 101
"See "Wildlife and Water Projects on the Platte River' in the Audubon Wildlife Report 1988/89.
"Nebraska later sought to amend its petition to identify clearly the importance of maintaining flows
for critical habitat, but not soon enough for the Court which refused to allow the amendment. The Court
also refused to allow the conservation groups full status as intervenors, but has allowed them to
participate as sort of "super amid curiae" with opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine
witnesses.