BOARD00503

• Board Meeting Date: 5/24/2004
• Description: WSP Section - Platte River Recovery Implementation Program Update. Draft Environmental Impact Statement and National Academy of Science Update.
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Summary

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following gaps in key information related to threatened and endangered species on the central
and lower Platte River, and it recommends that they be addressed to provide improved scientific
support for decision-making.

A multiple-species perspective is missing from research and management of threatened
and endangered species on the central and lower Platte River, The interactions of the
protected species with each other and with unprotected species are poorly known. Efforts
to enhance one species may be detrimental to another species, but these connections
remain largely unknown because research has been focused on single species. One
approach is to shift from the focus on single species to an ecosystem perspective that
emphasizes the integration of biotic and abiotic processes supporting a natural
assemblage of species and habitats.

There is no systemwide, integrated operation plan or data-collection plan for the
combined hydrological system in the North Platte, South Platte, and central Platte Rivers
that can inform researchers and managers on issues that underlie threatened and
endangered species conservation. Natural and engineered variations in flows in one part
of the basin have unknown effects on other parts ofthe basin, especially with respect to
reservoir storage, groundwater storage, and river flows.

A lack offilll understanding of the geographic extent of the populations of imperiled
species that inhabit the central Platte River and a lack of reliable information on their
population sizes and dynamics limit our ability to use demographic models to predict
accurately their fates under different land-management and water-use scenarios,
Detailed population viability analyses using the most recent data would improve
understanding of the dynamics of the populations of at-risk species and would allow
managers to explore a variety of options to learn about the probable outcomes of
decisions, Continuation of population monitoring of at-risk species using the best
available techniques, including color-banding of prefledged chicks and application of
new telemetry techniques, is recommended.

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There is no larger regional context for the central and lower Platte River in research and
management, Most ofthe research and decision-making regarding threatened and
endangered species in the Platte River Basin have restricted analysis to the basin itself, as
though species used its habitats in isolation from other habitats outside the basin. There
are substantial gaps in integrative scientific understanding of the connections between
species that use the habitats of the central and lower Platte River and adjacent habitat
areas, such as the Rainwater Basin of southern Nebraska and the Loup, Elkhorn, and
Niobrara Rivers and other smaller northern Great Plains rivers,
The committee is confident that the central Platte River and lower Platte River are
essential for the survival and recovery of the listed bird species and pallid sturgeon.
However, in light of the habitat it provides and the perilously low numbers of the species,
there is not enough infonnation to assess the exact degree to which the Platte contributes
to their survival and recovery.

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