BOARD01284

• Board Meeting Date: 9/21/1998
• Description: Platte River Basin Issues - Status of Platte River Species Cooperative Agreement Implementation
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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eWCB Members
Status of Platte River Coopaative Agreement Implementation
September 21, 1998

contract amount to just over S39,000, payable monthly by the CWCB in accordance with a
contract etTective July I, 1998,

IT. National Environmental Policv Act (NEPAl Compliance:

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Background: The Platte River basin states and the u.s. Department of the Interior have agreed
that the long-tenn habitat restoration program described in the Cooperative Agreement can
provide the reasonable and prudent measures for Platte River basin water-related activities that
avoid jeopardy to the whooping crane, piping plover, interior least tern. and pallid sturgeon,
provided the program successfully complies with NEPA review requirements and the Service's
own internal Endangered Species Act review, Key recent NEPA developments include:

Issues / Developments:

. The Bureau of Reclarnation is leading the NEPA compliance process, Other federal agencies
have "cooperating agency" status, The Governance Committee has concurred with the
Bureau's present desire to limit "cooperating agency" status to federal agencies due to the
difficulties and delays of conferring such status on the numerous county and state agencies
seeking or that could seek such status: Delays in completing the NEP A process only
prolongs the uncertain and difficult regulatory environment affecting Platte River basin water
development and management activities,

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. A Denver -based Platte River Environmental Impact Statement office has been established,
under the direction of Mr, Curt Brown. Ms, Charlene Dougherty, who also works out of the
NEPA office, functions as USDOI Assistant Secretary Patty Beneke's direct liaison to the
NEP A process,

. The required public scoping process to identify issues and alternatives has been completed
and a "Final Scoping Report" is available for your review, should you be interested,

. During the scoping process, the Colorado River Water Conservation District expressed the
view that the Colorado River basin should be included as part of the "affected environment"
in the Platte River EIS, and that the effects of diversions from the west slope to the Platte
River basin should be fully analyzed in the EIS, The River District reasoned, in summary,
that because increased average annual flows a! the Colorado-Nebraska state line over the
course of the 20th century are a function of return flows resulting from transmountain
diversions, and because Colorado's proposed managed groundWater recharge project
(famarack Plan) and Future Depletions Plan are designed to re-regulate the timing of
transbasin retwn flows for the benefit of the habitat in central Nebraska, the Platte River
~ program is dependent upon existing and perhaps increas~ transbasin diversions, The River
District has also reasoned that the Platte River program's dependence upon transmountain
, return tlows reduces incentives for reuse as may be required by the Blue River decree,