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