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What is the Platte River Cooperative Agreement? What is the Proposed Program for the Platte River? What do they mean for Coloradans? The Platte River Basin High in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, the North and South Platte Rivers begin as rivulets of icy water trickling from snow on the mountainsides. The North Platte River winds northward into Wyoming, then arcs eastward into Nebraska. The South Platte tumbles out of the Rockies and meanders northeast to Denver and across the plains of Colorado and Nebraska. The two join near the city of North Platte, Nebraska, to become the Platte River. The river - -now slower, flatter and often split into many smaller channels -- wanders 200 miles across Nebraska and empties into the Missouri River south of Omaha. The waters of the Platte River Basin, and the connected groundwater aquifers, serve the people of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska in many ways. Federal and non - federal water projects in the basin, including 15 major reservoirs, provide drinking water for about 3.5 million people, irrigate millions of acres of farmland, serve industry, and generate millions of dollars of hydroelectric power. These projects also provide flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife habitat. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, activities even at the upper end of the basin could affect habitat and species survival hundreds of miles downstream. Wildlife Species Issues The Platte River Basin is home to many wildlife species. The Cooperative Agreement focuses on four species that are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act in central Nebraska: the whooping crane, which migrates through Nebraska in the spring and fall; the piping plover and interior least tern, which nest and hatch their young in Nebraska; and the pallid sturgeon, a fish living primarily in the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, but occasionally found in the lower Platte. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that habitat for the species found in the central Platte area is less plentiful than in the past because of changes that have come with land development in Nebraska and water development throughout the basin. The Fish and Wildlife Service requires all water projects in the Platte River Basin which require federal licenses to address the habitat needs of the endangered species. The Cooperative Agreement and the proposed recovery program are an attempt to balance the needs of the species while allowing existing water uses and future water development in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska to continue. The goals of the proposed recovery program are to make more water available at times when these species can use it, and provide more acreage in Nebraska for habitat along the river. Other species present in the area, or which migrate through the area, are also expected to benefit from the proposed recovery program. The Cooperative Agreement In July of 1997, after several years of discussion and compromise, the governors of the states of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, and the Secretary of the Interior signed a Cooperative Agreement to address the needs of the species listed as threatened or endangered that live in the Central Platte River Basin. ' The agreement is based on the belief that a basin -wide, cooperative effort is the best approach to help resolve endangered species issues while allowing water use and development to continue. Through the Cooperative Agreement, the three states and the U.S. Department of the Interior are working together with a diverse group of water users and conservation groups to fill