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2008 — 2009 RIVER CONDITIONS <br />The amount of low- elevation sandbars present within the PRRIP Associated Habitats region of <br />the central Platte River is variable and dependent on seasonal and daily fluctuations in river flow. <br />The size and distribution of non - vegetated, high- elevation sandbars (characteristic of interior <br />least tern and piping plover nesting activity) within the PRRIP Associated Habitat region is fairly <br />predictable and dependent upon construction and management efforts. <br />Flows were unremarkable from April through the middle of May in 2008; however, above - <br />average rainfall occurred across the region on 23 and 24 May, 2008 in south central Nebraska. <br />The greatest amount of rainfall occurred along the Platte River valley between Gothenburg and <br />Cozad with depths totaling 6 -7 inches. The 23 and 24 May rainfall event was preceded by <br />several lesser events producing a May precipitation total of 10 -12 inches near the west end of the <br />PRRIP Associated Habitats region (Figure 3); average May precipitation in this area is <4 <br />inches. Rainfall events of this magnitude in central Nebraska exceed a 100 -year return period <br />and resulted in a natural high flow event on the Platte River throughout the habitat reach (Figure <br />4). The crest of the high flow event exceeded National Weather Service (NWS) Flood Stage <br />levels and produced moderate flooding throughout the area. Peak high flows occurred during the <br />last week of May and were subsiding the first week of June, but subsequent local -rain events <br />resulted in regional pulses within the eastern reaches of our study area during June and July <br />(Figure 4). River levels subsided enough in mid to late June that sandbar habitat for nesting <br />interior least terns and piping plovers was available from the latter half of June onward. A time - <br />series of photographs at Program properties supplement the USGS flow data (Figures 6 and 7). <br />River flows were unremarkable during 2009; peak flows were <4,000 cfs (Figure 5). <br />0.1 0.5 1 2 3.5 5 6.5 S 9.5 11 12.5 <br />Generated 9/1 6/2008 at HPRCC using provisional data. NOAA Reqional Climate Centers <br />Figure 3. Nebraska precipitation in inches 1 May — 1 July, 2008. Image courtesy of <br />High Plains Regional Climate Center, University of Nebraska - Lincoln. <br />PRRIP 2008 -2009 Tern /Plover Report Page 7 of 42 <br />