Report on the Platte River Basin, Nebraska Level B Study

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of this report in the future, a brief description of the atmosphere prevailing at the time these tradeoffs were made follows. Interests anxious to obtain federal funding of structdral measures were disturbed to learn that some were not in the Recommended Plan because they lacked economic justification. Some main- tained that a Level B Study should do nothing more than identify needs and possible solutions, not evaluate them. Study conclusions which projected that ground water depletions could affect the scaling of surface water irrigation projects also elicited strong reaction. The proposition that interaction among competing water demands could result in a tradeoff —a sacrifice by both interests — was often protested. Interests anxious to emphasize preservation of fish and wildlife resources were disturbed to learn that the Recommended Plan did not propose severe limitations upon future development, especially irrigation. Some agencies funded to participate in the study indicated their belief that the make -up of the planning board was biased toward economic development and therefore could not deal fairly with environmental issues. Again, tradeoffs were often protested. Although extremes on both sides protested when tradeoff and adjustment was proposed, the displays of beneficial and adverse effects provided perspective bounds within which the planning board made the tradeoff decisions. The planning board was aided in making many of the decisions by the planning team, citizen advisors, task force leaders, and other study participants. In order to assure greater consideration of regional problems and opportunities, the planning process also included an evaluation of all programs and projects which failed to meet NED and EQ criteria. This was designated as the Nebraska Standards Evaluation and utilized current (1974) agricultural prices along with the costs and interest discount rate used in the NED evaluation. STUDY ASSIGNMENTS Assignments of work items were made accord- ing to the expertise required and the availability of time and personnel. Planning Board The planning board was responsible for plan formulation and for making policy decisions re- lated to study conduct. The board was also re- sponsible for reviewing task force technical papers to ensure uniformity, clarity, and coverage of the subjects being presented. Task Forces Each task force was assigned responsibility to prepare a technical paper describing the functional area investigated and the results of its work. Part of the investigation was to inventory the existing situation, considering both resources and prob- lems. Task force assignments varied in degree of technical difficulty and detail from routine inven- tory to the evaluation of projected future condi- tions. Citizens' Advisory Committees Citizens' advisory committee members and al- ternates were each assigned to a task force in an advisory capacity. The task force to which they were assigned was normally one having responsi- bilities paralleling their own areas of interest. These citizen committees also provided study manage- ment with guidance and review of the study conduct and results as it proceeded from the inventory phase through plan formulation. Citizen members provided information on study activities to constituents in their interest area. Special Committees and Consultants Several special committees were formed to aid in conducting certain phases of the study. These committee members were sometimes citizens who served without pay, being motivated primarily by their interest in water resources management. Project and Program Financing Committee. This committee was formed to provide guidance and review the findings of a contractor investigating possibilities for funding water resources projects. Its members met periodically to review completed analyses and suggest additional areas for con- sideration. Members of the committee were representatives of state and federal agencies, insurance and investment companies, university staff, and Natural Resource Districts. Consultants. The Nebraska Water Resources Research Institute located in Lincoln, Nebraska was engaged as a consultant to develop a com- puter model to screen and optimize the number and size of potential projects for the multiple objectives of irrigation, flood control, and recreation. This was to be a general model for use throughout the basin in plan formulation activities. However, the timing of the model development and schedule re- quirements precluded its use outside the Elkhorn Subbasin. The same consultant was also engaged to investigate additional funding possibilities as dis- cussed previously. Many of the data were obtained from state and federal agencies with proposals M