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Identification of Policy Issues Affecting the Technical Committee <br />Prepared by <br />Rick Brown, Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />Kevin Urie, Denver Water /Platte River Project <br />1. Issue - The R 1 -1 Milestone, "Documentation of existing habitat and species <br />conditions" document is not yet complete_; 4ut iIt appears that the document will not <br />completely serve as a baseline for several reasons. In some cases data does not exist <br />and in other cases w4eFe -data does exist but the protocol /methods used to collect the <br />data are not known or were deficient and can not be replicated for comparison <br />purposes in the future. <br />Discussion — The Cooperative Agreement (CA) establishes the expectation that R 1 -1 <br />will document existing species and habitat conditions in the central Platte as of the <br />effective date of the CAJJuIy_1 997). This documentation was intended to serve as a <br />baseline to compare against future changes /improvements in habitat and species <br />status resulting from Program activities. In the absence of scientifically valid and <br />quantifiable data., it iiswill not be possible for the Service to document the existing <br />conditions in the central Platte as of the effective date of the CA Lpawwa +t,,,+ +;„,o L Ag <br />eo+n and gone. In cases where there is no data or deficient data, the Program one <br />dees will not have a documented condition to compare program <br />changes /improvements against. <br />Given this situation the signatories of the CA need to consider this issue and <br />determine if a modification to R 1 -1 is necessary and /or define their expectations for <br />the "Baseline" document. <br />Note to Colorado Team: <br />The Service has indicated to the Technical Committee that they believe there is not <br />adequate information and data available to completely document all the existing <br />species and habitat conditions of the central Platte. Consequently, the Service has <br />proposed an RI -1 document that would include only baseline conditions of <br />paramenters where protocols and adequate data are currently available. Parameters <br />lacking adequate data and sound protocols would be developed and conducted <br />through the integrated monitoring and research component (IMRC ) during the first <br />increment of the Program. As the data and research is conducted, missing baseline <br />conditions would be added to the R1 -1 document. Two possible alternatives are: <br />1) Pressure the Service to provide a completed R1 -1 document outlining the existing <br />baseline conditions of the central Platte before signing on to a Program. <br />• This approach would force the Service to make a decision/jud eg ment <br />about the current status of existing habitat and species conditions from <br />which future Program activities would be compared against. <br />