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3 <br />189,700 af, with the remaining 95,500 of coming from storage water. <br />Additionally, there are at least another 300,000 acres of cropland that rely <br />on groundwater pumping, and which indirectly benefit from groundwater recharge <br />due to the Projects' operations. <br />Description of the Affected Resource Area <br />The Platte River provides important habitat for fish and wildlife resources of <br />national and international significance, with particular importance as <br />migratory bird habitat within the central flyway of North America. Six of <br />nine federally listed species that occur along the Platte River are migratory <br />birds. In addition to being federally designated critical migratory habitat <br />for the whooping crane, this area provides essential nesting habitat for the <br />least tern and piping plover, wintering and nesting habitat for the bald <br />eagle, and spring staging and foraging habitat for the Eskimo curlew and <br />American peregrine falcon. <br />The Platte River also provides important spring staging habitat for a majority <br />of the mid - continent sandhi]] crane population. Each spring, about 80 percent <br />of the sandhill cranes in North America use the Platte and North Platte River <br />valleys in Nebraska en route to nesting areas in Canada, Alaska, and northern <br />Siberia. An estimated 7 -9 million waterfowl use the area as migratory resting <br />habitat in preparation for the breeding season. In addition, the Platte River <br />provides a variety of year -round habitat types for a diverse fish community <br />including the pallid sturgeon and sturgeon chub, and numerous species of <br />invertebrates, mollusks, amphibians, reptiles, and plants. <br />Due to numerous dams, diversions, and storage facilities throughout the basin, <br />the hydrology of the Platte River has been radically altered. Flows in the <br />central Platte have been significantly reduced from historic conditions, <br />resulting in sediment transport loads being reduced to about 30 percent of <br />historic levels. Consequently, much of the original open, braided river <br />channel area is now dominated by riparian woodlands and surrounded by <br />croplands. Channel widths in many areas have been reduced to 10 to 20 percent <br />of former width. Habitat conditions within the existing channel have <br />substantially deteriorated as a result of reduced scouring of sandbars and <br />shifting of alluvial sediments. Wet meadows, a vital habitat component of the <br />Platte River valley, have been substantially reduced over the past century due <br />to numerous factors stemming from depletion of instream flows. The Service <br />has developed flow targets that it believes would be needed to maintain <br />habitat requirements for federally listed species occurring along the central <br />Platte. <br />