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Testimony of Donald D. Kraus <br />February 16, 2002 <br />projects in Colorado. The states and the Department of the Interior agreed in 1994 to try <br />to develop a basin -wide cooperative approach. This led to the Cooperative Agreement of <br />1997 and the bare bones of a basin -wide Program. The process to fill in Program details <br />is now in its final phase. If adopted, the proposed Program will provide habitat land and <br />water to benefit three threatened or endangered species: the whooping crane, the interior <br />least tern and the piping plover. It will also test whether actions taken for these species <br />might benefit the endangered pallid sturgeon, which occasionally enters the lower Platte. <br />The proposed Program is phased. During the first thirteen -year increment, it will acquire <br />and protect 10,000 acres of habitat, working toward a long -term goal of 29,000 acres. <br />The proposed Program also provides for environmental flows in the river. Flows now <br />fall short of Fish and Wildlife Service "target flows" by an average of 417,000 acre -feet <br />in an average year. The Districts and others believe that the target flows are not justified, <br />but we have agreed that during the first increment, the Program will reduce shortages to <br />target flows by 130- 150,000 acre -feet. The long -term Program water goal is undefined — <br />"sufficient" flows for species needs. <br />These measures provide ESA compliance for all water - related activities that existed as of <br />July 1, 1997, the date the Cooperative Agreement was signed. The proposed Program <br />also has new depletions programs to be administered by the individual basin states. They <br />mitigate the impacts on target flows of any water use added later. <br />The Cooperative Agreement allowed the Districts to settle their FERC licensing <br />proceedings based on our participation in the anticipated Program to address the entire <br />basin together. This settlement would not have been possible without the leadership of <br />the Denver office of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Under the settlement, the Districts <br />provide storage in an "environmental account" for water we contribute and for Program <br />water from upstream projects, 2650 acres of habitat and annual species and habitat <br />monitoring. Additional license requirement include a further 4700 acres of non - Program <br />habitat. The measures in our license will cost about $20 million. I want to note that we <br />could offer a significant amount of water in a proposed Program because the Program <br />will mitigate the impacts of new development on our project. <br />The relicensing proceeding was long and contentious because decisions had to be made <br />up front, leaving no way to accommodate our sharp technical disagreements. It is easy to <br />agree that we should use the "best science ", but when scientists disagree, it is not so easy <br />to agree on whose science is best, or what is a conservative approach and what is mere <br />speculation. Substantial technical disagreement remains today, but we have looked for <br />ways to go beyond that disagreement. First, the proposed Program is phased, so that <br />long -term goals and commitments are periodically revisited. Second, the proposed <br />Program is committed to an "adaptive management" approach. We agreed to disagree, <br />and to use the Fish and Wildlife Service's approach to land and water as a starting point. <br />But we are also actively exploring alternatives, carrying out extensive monitoring and <br />research, arranging for peer review, and changing our approach as experience or research <br />warrants. Third, decisions are to be collaborative. The Program gives both our state and <br />the water users voting seats and prevents unilateral changes of direction. The Program is <br />2 <br />