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in areas affected by the projects, and 53 miles of the central Platte River immediately <br />downstream of the projects are designated critical habitat for the whooping crane. <br />Endangered bald eagles use mature riparian forest near streams and lakes. About 35 percent <br />of the statewide population of bald eagles winter along the Platte River, including on project <br />waters, and roost and forage in the vicinity of project facilities. The endangered interior <br />least tern and threatened piping plover nest on unvegetated or sparsely vegetated sandbars in <br />the river channel, in adjacent sandpits along the central Platte River, and along sections of <br />the Lake McConaughy shoreline. Interior least terns feed on small fish in the river, and <br />piping plovers forage for invertebrates on exposed beaches. <br />Eighty percent of the North American population of sandhill cranes, or about a half million <br />birds, stage along the Platte River in the project area each spring for over 1 month. These <br />are the highest crane concentrations found anywhere in the world. Finally, the Platte River <br />valley and adjacent Rainwater Basin annually attract from 7 to 9 million ducks and geese. <br />1.4.3 Hydroelectric Generation <br />Utilization of the projects' hydroelectric power generation potential represents a third <br />principal resource objective, because the continued use of this renewable resource would <br />contribute to meeting the state's long -term power requirements and to forestalling increased <br />adverse environmental effects from fossil fuel burning. Any decrease in dependable <br />capacity would reduce the state's resource base and advance the need for new demand -side <br />management or generating resources. Further, reducing the electrical energy generation of <br />the projects due to operational changes would result in increased generation by other <br />existing power generating resources. Additionally, hydropower production supports <br />important irrigation functions through sharing of project expenses among multiple uses. <br />1.4.3.1 Reliability Considerations <br />The electric energy generated by the two projects (approximately 450 gigawatt-hours in an <br />average year) is fully used to help meet the electric energy requirements of the NPPD <br />system. Energy provided by the projects would continue to be useful in meeting a portion <br />of the electric system's existing and projected energy requirements. Additionally, the two <br />projects provide 116 megawatts of dependable capacity that are available to meet peak <br />demands. Any loss of this dependable capacity would advance the date when additional <br />capacity would need to be installed. <br />The combined effect of electrical load growth and fixed or declining levels of existing <br />generation capacity necessitates the addition of demand -side management measures and/or <br />generating resources if reliability levels are to be maintained. The timing of the need for <br />additional resources is determined largely by the rate of load growth, load characteristics, <br />the age and condition of existing resources, and system reliability criteria. <br />1 -6 <br />