SPWRAP 2008 Policy Directive and Operating Report

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2007 Report and 2008 Work Plan SPWRAP's first year of operation was 2007. Following are brief updates summarizing SPWRAP's activities during the course of last year, and its anticipated work efforts for 2008, in the areas of policy development and annual operations. Policy Development Federal Authorization of the Program. The Platte Program officially started on January 1, 2007 and the major entities involved have signed the new Cooperative Agreement to pursue the Program (CO, WY, NE, DOI). Although the Program has begun, federal participation is limited until Congressional authorization is received for federal participation in the Program. The most notable limitation is the inability to spend federal dollars on land and water assets. Because the federal participation will provide 50% ($157 million in cash) of the cost for the Program, it is critical that Congressional authorization be secured. To move this process forward, Mr. Allen Freemyer, a consultant/lobbyist located in Washington D.C., has been retained since last March to assist in moving the legislation forward. Last year the authorization passed the House, but was not acted upon by the Senate. At this time it is anticipated that the legislation will be entertained by the Senate in the next month. SPWRAP support of Mr. Freemyer to move the federal legislation is deemed to be both critical and productive, and the board has allocated up to $24,000 in this year's budget to cover a share of his costs through this coming June. Colorado's Funding. The State of Colorado is one of the four signatories to the Program and has committed to provide $24 million in cash to the Program in addition to our water retiming operations. SPWRAP has committed to partner with the State in meeting these obligations. The current arrangement contemplates that the State will obtain the $24 million in cash to go to the Program and SPWRAP will complete the development of Colorado's water component. The State has laid out and begun to implement a plan to secure the $24 million (indexed as of 2007) for the Platte Program through the existing Species Conservation Trust Fund (SCTF) as follows: $8 million (done) $5.36 million current legislative session $2 million 108 -109 $4 million 109-110 $6 million 110-111 SPWRAP members are following and providing support to the State in pursuing these transfers from the SCTF. SPWRAP has also initiated efforts to develop a plan to meet the water obligations. More information will follow in future communications.