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currently designated as a candidate species, and is expected to soon be <br />proposed for federal listing. <br />The Service previously submitted to the Commission under provisions of the <br />Federal Power Act and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act recommendations <br />relating to non - federally listed <br />migratory birds and other species . <br />Project Description <br />Both projects are located along the North Platte, South Platte, and Platte <br />rivers in Nebraska. Kingsley Dam creates the single largest storage reservoir <br />(Lake McConaughy) in the Platte River basin encompassed within the States of <br />Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. The Projects are operated for four principal <br />purposes: <br />• to provide water for irrigation, including provisions for drought <br />protection; <br />• to provide cooling water for Gerald Gentleman coal -fired generating <br />station; <br />• to generate hydropower; and <br />• to provide recreational opportunities at project facilities. <br />The affected area includes a 77 -mile reach of the North Platte River from near <br />Lewellen to the confluence with the South Platte River; a 34 -mile reach of the <br />South Platte River from the Korty Diversion near Paxton to the confluence with <br />the North Platte River; and a 314 -mile reach of the Platte River from the <br />confluence of the North and South Platte rivers to the mouth of the Platte <br />River at the Missouri River confluence. The effects of activities which are <br />interrelated and interdependent with the proposed federal action are <br />considered part of the federal action subject to section 7 consultation. <br />The Projects include a complex system of storage reservoirs, canals, and <br />powerplants with closely coordinated and interdependent operations. In <br />addition to irrigation, storage water is used for power generation at five <br />hydroelectric powerplants with a combined capacity of 128 megawatts (MW) and a <br />dependable capacity of 118 MW, and for cooling purposes at the 1,300 MW Gerald <br />Gentleman coal -fired powerplant. The Projects deliver about 285,200 acre -feet <br />(af) of natural flow and storage water to 15 irrigation canals for irrigating <br />about 215,000 acres of cropland annually. Natural flow deliveries are about <br />I <br />1I <br />J <br />