Laserfiche WebLink
Agreement are several documents: <br />• a milestones document describing obligations of the parties during the three year <br />Cooperative Agreement period; <br />• a water conservation/water supply document, describing studies needed to <br />develop water for program purposes; <br />• the proposed program, describing water supply and reregulation projects to <br />provide water to the habitat, and land, money and other contributions by the states <br />and Interior; and <br />• a governance document describing how the program will be run. <br />THE COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT <br />The Cooperative Agreement describes what will happen during the three -year period <br />pending ESA and NEPA analysis by the FWS. If the ESA and NEPA reviews are not <br />completed in three years and six months, the entire Cooperative Agreement, and all <br />interim regulatory certainty for permitees,. will terminate unless the Cooperative <br />Agreement is extended by the signatories. <br />Regulatory Certainty During the three -year Cooperative Agreement period, Colorado <br />water users will have regulatory certainty under the ESA, as long _ as all specified <br />activities are completed. <br />• Water users seeking permits or permit renewals for existing water - related <br />activities will continue to be able to operate their projects under the same interim <br />conditions that several Front Range municipal water facilities have relied upon <br />during the negotiation of the Program Agreement. These permittees will pay to <br />the FWS an annual charge which will be used to buy habitat, and water that will <br />help bring Platte River flows toward the target flows. <br />• Water users seeking permits for new water related activities will also be assured <br />of interim compliance with the ESA, by replacing the consumptive use of their <br />water projects on an annual basis during the Cooperative Agreement period. <br />• Water users with projects that will consume 25 acre feet per year or less- must <br />comply with the FWS's existing biological opinion on minor depletions, which <br />involves payment of a one -time charge of $37 per acre -foot of consumptive use. <br />&tablishing the Program The Cooperative Agreement provides that at the end of the <br />ESA and NEPA review period, the states and Interior will enter into a new agreement that <br />2 <br />