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• Provides an alternative to the requirement that historic and future water related activities <br /> in Colorado replace individual depletions on a one-for-one basis in amount and in timing at <br /> the Colorado-Nebraska state line. <br /> • Provides streamlined ESA Section 7 compliance procedures and regulatory predictability for <br /> existing and future water related activities in Colorado. Project owners and operators who <br /> choose to rely on the Program will know their requirements prior to ESA consultation. <br /> • Avoids the potential for prohibited "take" of listed species under ESA Section 9 for water- <br /> related activities covered by the Program. <br /> • Satisfies Colorado's water-related mitigation requirements through the Tamarack Plan, <br /> which utilizes managed groundwater recharge from existing and future recharge wells and <br /> ditches located in the lower reaches of the South Platte River in Colorado to re-time river <br /> flows from periods exceeding flow targets to periods short of target flows. The Tamarack <br /> Plan also obtains annually, by payment, recharge accretion credits not needed by local well <br /> augmentation plans during free-river periods. Water re-timing for the Tamarack Plan is <br /> limited to water that physically and legally exceeds existing and future water demands in <br /> Colorado (i.e. water that would normally flow out of the state) and is further limited to <br /> water that is in excess to target flows in the Program habitat in Nebraska. This water is first <br /> diverted for an initial beneficial use within Colorado; some of the unused return flows from <br /> this diverted water subsequently reach the river in times that benefit the Platte species. <br /> • Provides potential benefits addressing two other issues important to the lower South Platte <br /> River in Colorado. The higher return flows produced in areas of the South Platte River as a <br /> result of the managed groundwater recharge for the Program also benefit Colorado's <br /> Minnow Species of Concern. Additionally, the Tamarack Plan puts water in the South Platte <br /> River at times when it is not needed or cannot be utilized to reduce target flow shortages. <br /> This "new" water supply enhances the effectiveness of augmentation plans and provides <br /> water for new uses within Colorado. <br /> • Reduces pressure toward permanent dry up of agricultural lands along the lower South <br /> Platte for the benefit of federally listed species in Nebraska. <br /> • Encourages development of improved science on the central Platte River through an <br /> adaptive management plan and integrated monitoring/research plan designed to test <br /> competing hypotheses of the Program's participants concerning species and habitat needs. <br /> 4 <br /> SPWRAP <br />