BOARD00289

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2002
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River Basin Issues - Colorado River Coordinated Long-Range Operating Criteria Five Year Review
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Endangered Species

In 1994, the Secretary of the Interior and the Governors of Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming entered into the
"Platte River Memorandum of Agreement" (MOA), in which they agreed to negotiate a program to conserve
and protect the habitat of four species listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Three bird
species, the interior least tern, whooping crane, and piping plover, occupy the Central Platte River Valley
between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska, A fourth species, the pallid sturgeon, is a fish that lives in the
lower Platte River below its confluence with the Elkl10rn River in Nebraska, The land and water habitat in
these areas has been modified by a combination of events, including flow alternation as a result of upstream
water development and land uses in Nebraska.

Pursuant to the MOA, the states and the Department of the Interior signed a Cooperative Agreement which
outlines a "Recovery Implementation Program" to improve and conserve habitat for these species. The
Program specifies both flow measures in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and habitat measures in Nebraska
that will be implemented to improve habitat.

The purpose of the Program is to enable existing and new water uses in the Platte River Basin to proceed
without additional actions required (beyond the Program) under the Endangered Species Act. A Governance
Committee with members from the three states, water users, environmental groups, and two federal agencies
has been established to implement the Cooperative Agreement. Over the next two years, and evaluation will be
conducted to measure the impacts of the proposed Program and a range of alternatives, as required under the
National Environmental Policy Act. At that point, the parties intend that a long-term Program will be developed
and they will enter into an agreement for its implemel1lation. The State of Colorado will need to determine
how it will participate in the Program with respect to this basin.

Supreme Court Decisious:

Nebraska v. Wyoming. 325 U.S. 665 (1945) & 345 U.s. 981 (1953) - This decision limits total irrigation in Jackson
County to 145,000 acres and 17,000 acre feet of storage for irrigation during anyone irrigation season. It limits total
water exports from the North Platte in Colorado to no more than 60,000 acre feet during any IO-year period.

Wyoming v. Colorado, 353 U.S. 953 (1957) - This decision limits total diversion from the Laramie River in
Colorado to a total of 49,375 acre feet/year. No more than 19,875 AF/year may be diverted for use outside the basin,
and no more than 29,500 AF/year may be diverted for use within the basin. Any of the 19,875 that is not diverted
outside the basin, can be used within the basin.

References

I. Colorado Water DeveloDment Studv, Colorado Farm Bureau, 1997
2. Preliminarv PODulation Proiections. Colorado Depanment of Local Affairs. 200 I

3. Cumulative Yearlv Swtistics. Colorado Division of Water Resources, 2000

4. Personal Communicalion. Bob Plaska. Division 6 Engineer, January 2. 2002

5. Interstate Comoacts. U.S. Suoreme Court Decrees and International Treaties AffectiOl:! Colorado's Use of Water, Colorado
Water Conservation Board, 1995

6. Nonh Platte River Basin Facts, CWCB, January 2000

7. Colorado Agricultural Census. National Agricultural Statistics Service, June 2001

8. Estimated Water Use in the United States. USGS. 1980.1990,1995

For more information on this basi~ please visit http://cwcb.state,co.us