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<br />III. <br /> <br />Status of Cooperative Agreement Activities <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The surprising news from the EIS team has slowed the process of trying to assemble the proposed <br />program. It has not made sense to spend time assembling the elements of the proposed program <br />until we can gain a better understanding of our options for obtaining ESA compliance. However, <br />we do see value in continuing to work on outstanding tasks for the individual CA committees. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />A brief summary of the status of important individual committee activities is provided below: <br /> <br />. The Water Action Plan was finalized and submitted to the Governance Committee. The EIS <br />team is still looking at the estimated yield from all the water projects, but we are reasonably <br />confident that we will stay above the minimum goal of 130,000 acre feet. <br /> <br />It is important to note that the Water Action Plan is at the reconnaissance level. We should <br />expect to see changes as the process moves forward. In addition, Nebraska will continue to <br />stress the need to address issues, which may help them gain the support they need from their <br />constituents. Colorado has expressed our disagreement with many of these issues so we still <br />face many challenges if a program is implemented. <br /> <br />. The Water Management Committee did not meet. They plan to meet in the next month to <br />develop interim milestones. <br /> <br />. The Land Committee was also relatively quiet during the last two months. A "Habitat <br />Management Methods" document was completed by a subcommittee of the Land Committee. <br />The document is a summary of different management options for the various habitat types <br />along the central Platte. <br /> <br />. The Technical Committee initiated a process to resolve several issues that are technical in <br />nature but also have a strong policy component. It was decided that the issues would be <br />outlined to the Governance Committee in a series of workshops. We have completed two <br />workshops and some progress was made toward resolving the issues. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />At the last workshop the Technical Committee prepared a list of specific questions regarding <br />the proposed program. The list of questions stimulated a lively discussion and at times it <br />appeared that there was a basic level of agreement. The notes from the meeting will be <br />summarized and then the participants will develop a set of draft policy statements. This effort <br />should help alleviate many of the disagreements that take place in the Technical Committee. <br /> <br />A few examples of some of the issues that are being discussed are summarized below: <br /> <br />Are both on-channel and off-channel habitat acceptable to the program and given "equal <br />weight"? <br /> <br />Should the program focus monitoring and research on: the Platte Channel; the Platte Channel <br />and a 7-mile corridor along the channel; or on a larger geographic area? <br /> <br />Is the program responsible for ensure the sustainability of the Platte River channel or do we <br />need to protect and manage program lands? <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2 <br />