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Report on Estimated Cost for Expansion <br />Tamarack Managed Groundwater Recharge Project <br />at <br />Tamarack Ranch State Wildlife Area <br />and <br />Pony Express State Wildlife Area <br />Project Background <br />The Tamarack Managed Groundwater Recharge Project (Tamarack Project) is located in Logan and Sedgwick <br />Counties along the South Platte River in northeastern Colorado. The location of the project is shown on Plate 1 of <br />this report. The Tamarack Project was initially conceived with the following purposes and needs (Final <br />Environmental Assessment for the Tamarack Managed Groundwater Recharge Project at the Tamarack Ranch <br />State Wildlife Area and Pony Express State Wildlife Area, Colorado Division of Wildlife, 1999): <br />Purposes: <br />1. To broaden the management and use of the Tamarack Ranch State Wildlife Area (TRSWA) and Pony <br />Express State Wildlife Area (PESWA) to include benefits to native fish species listed as threatened or <br />endangered pursuant to Colorado law in a manner that is consistent with the purposes for which these <br />SWA's were acquired and developed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW); <br />2. To create or enhance wetland habitats on the TRSWA and PESWA in a manner that is consistent with the <br />purposes for which these SWA's were acquired and developed by the CDOW; and <br />3. To contribute to that portion of Colorado's Tamarack Plan, as described in Tab 3A of the Cooperative <br />Agreement, to be located on the TRSWA and PESWA in a manner that is consistent with the purposes for <br />which these SWA's were acquired and developed by the CDOW. <br />Needs: <br />1. The CDOW has identified at least four species of minnows native to the South Platte River Basin in <br />Colorado whose populations have declined to the point that CDOW has designated them pursuant to <br />Colorado law as threatened or endangered species. This project is designed to provide water flows that <br />benefit these species by improving water flow conditions within and through their habitats. <br />2. The augmented stream flows from this project are needed to protect riparian wetland habitat such as wet <br />meadows and warm water sloughs that exist on the lower South Platte River and at the TRSWA and <br />PESWA. <br />3. An outdoor laboratory in the form of an artificial stream is needed to study habitat needs and propagation <br />techniques for several declining native species of the Platte River Basin in Colorado. <br />- 1 - f3OVL E <br />