Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Habitats

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among the operating parties will be resolved through the Governance • Committee. It is an operational goal to coordinate upstream Program activities so as to increase storage .water in the Environmental Account for Storage Reservoirs on the Platte River System in Nebraska. It is recognized, however, that not all water reregulated for environmental purposes will be storable in that Environmental Account, and that water need not be stored or storable to contribute toward Program objectives. The Water. Management Committee, with the approval of the Governance Committee, shall develop protocols for determining what quantities of water are to be credited to the Environmental Account. C. Verificati on. The Water Management Committee, with the approval of the Governance Committee, will establish monitoring programs and protocols for verifying that the three reregulation projects have the intended and modeled effects on instream flows. 2. Water Conservation/%Wy Ate. A portion of the instream flow objectives will be met through a program of incentive -based water conservation and water supply activities (see Appendix A, Tab 4). New reregulation projects may be considered for inclusion as part of the Program Water • Conservation/Supply Component, subject to the operational, verification and miti gation provisions described below. a. Inclusion in the Progm. Subject to modification as additional information becomes available, the water Conservation/Supply Action Plan developed and approved during the term of the Cooperative Agreement will be considered a component of the Program. Consistent with that Action Plan, the Governance Committee, with the advice of the Water Management Committee, shall determine whether any specific proposed reregulation project, water supply project or conservation project or program shall be funded by and included in the Program, and to what extent any reregulated or conserved water can be credited toward Program objectives of reducing shortages to the target flows. During the first increment, the goal will be to provide at least 60,000 acre -feet per year on average of net hydrologic benefit through water conservation/supply projects. The Governance Committee shall consider cost - benefit analysis, impacts on groundwater and return flow, gross amount of water conserved or supplied, net water provided at the habitat, and other factors identified in Appendix C, "Program Water Conservation/ Supply Component." Only • projects which yield a quantifiable net water benefit toward Program 10