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Platte River Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement <br />Improving flows in the river during migration of the whooping crane and the nesting of the tern <br />and plover species, and to maintain fish populations used as forage by the tern. <br />Protecting and restoring wet meadows for crane foraging. <br />Offsetting the ongoing erosion and downcutting of the riverbed in the habitat reach. <br />Reducing disturbance to roosting, nesting, and foraging target species. <br />Increasing sediment transport to the Lower Platte for pallid sturgeon habitat; increasing the <br />occurrence of significant spring rise in the river to provide spawning cues, nutrient cycling, and <br />reproductive habitat for the pallid sturgeon and its food base. <br />ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT CONSULTATION <br />Under the ESA, Federal agencies must ensure that projects they operate, or for which they provide <br />Federal authorizations, permits, or funds (i.e., there is a "Federal- nexus "), are not likely to jeopardize the <br />continued existence of any threatened or endangered species or to adversely modify or destroy <br />designated critical habitat. This likelihood generally is assessed through ESA Section 7 consultation with <br />the Service (see attachment, The No Action Alternative). <br />If a proposed action is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or adversely modify <br />designated critical habitat, the Service, through consultation with Federal action agencies, is required to <br />develop ESA compliance measures including reasonable and prudent alternatives (RPAs) or offsetting <br />measures, if any are available. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Federal agencies to ensure that <br />their actions do not jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or adversely modify designated <br />critical habitat. <br />One purpose of the Program is to provide ESA compliance for existing and new water - related activities in <br />the Basin. Since 1978, many water projects or activities in the Basin have been found by the Service to <br />jeopardize one or more of the target species.10 Numerous other water projects with a Federal connection <br />or nexus in the Basin in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming are now, or will soon be, undergoing a <br />review of their impacts on endangered species under section 7(a)(2) of the ESA. <br />10See Service, 1978, 1979, and written communication, 1997. <br />December 2003 <br />