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COVER SHEET
<br />Summary of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
<br />Platte River Recovery Implementation Program
<br />Prepared by: Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
<br />NEPA Cooperating Agencies: U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, Environmental Protection
<br />Agency, Western Area Power Administration, USDA - Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army
<br />Corps of Engineers, and Carbon County, Wyoming.
<br />Action Area
<br />Nebraska Counties: Adams, Arthur, Banner, Buffalo, Cheyenne, Custer, Dawson, Deuel, Garden, Gosper,
<br />Hall, Hamilton, Kearney, Keith, Kimball, Lincoln, Merrick, McPherson, Morrill, Phelps, Scotts Bluff, and
<br />Sioux;
<br />Colorado Counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jackson,
<br />Jefferson, Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Park, Sedgwick, Teller, Washington, and Weld;
<br />Wyoming Counties: Albany, Carbon, Converse, Fremont, Goshen, Laramie, Natrona, and Platte.
<br />This is a Summary of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared to address requirements of
<br />the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The DEIS also serves as the Biological Assessment for
<br />consultation under Section 7 of the ESA. Public comments are requested on the DEIS and /or this
<br />Summary.
<br />In 1997, the States of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado and the U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior)
<br />signed a Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species
<br />Habitats Along the Central Platte River, Nebraska (Cooperative Agreement). In this document, the
<br />signatories agreed to pursue a basinwide, cooperative approach to improve and maintain habitat for four
<br />threatened and endangered species —the whooping crane, interior least tern, piping plover, and pallid sturgeon
<br />in the Platte River.
<br />Interior has prepared the DEIS to analyze the impacts of the First Increment (13 years) of a proposed
<br />Recovery Implementation Program (Program) to benefit the target species and their habitat in the Platte River
<br />Basin and to provide compliance with the ESA for certain historic and future water uses in each State. The
<br />habitat objectives of the proposed Program include: improving flows in the Central Platte River through water
<br />re- regulation and conservation/supply projects; and protecting, restoring, and maintaining at least 10,000
<br />acres of habitat in the Central Platte River area between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska. The DEIS
<br />analyzes the impacts of four alternatives to implement the Program.
<br />The programmatic DEIS focuses on impacts that the Program may have on: hydrology, water quality, land,
<br />target species and their habitat, other species, hydropower, recreation, economics, social, and cultural
<br />resources. Subsequent NEPA and ESA documents required for implementation of specific Program actions
<br />will be tiered off of this document.
<br />For further information regarding the DEIS, or to obtain copies of the DEIS, contact the Platte River EIS
<br />Office (PL -100), PO Box 25007, Denver CO 80225 -0007, telephone (303) 445 -2096, fax (303) 445 -6331.
<br />Comments on the DEIS or this Summary must be sent to the Platte River EIS Office or emailed to
<br />plattekprs.usbr.gov no later than April 2, 2004.
<br />Copies of the Cooperative Agreement or the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program Document may
<br />be obtained by contacting the office of the Executive Director, Governance Committee, 2003 Central Avenue,
<br />Cheyenne WY 82001, telephone (307) 634 -1756 or toll -free (877) 634 -1773. These documents are also
<br />available at www.platteriver.org.
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