BOARD01925

• Board Meeting Date: 5/21/2001
• Description: WSP Section - Platte River Endangered Species Cooperative Agreement
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Shennan Stteet, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.ll5

~

Bill Owens
Governor

MEMORANDUM

To:
From:

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Rick Brown, Platte River Coordinator, Interstate Streams Investigation
Randy Seaholm, Chief, Interstate Streams Investigation
May 1,2001
Agenda Item 21.d., May 21-22, 2001 Board Meeting.
Platte River Endangered Species Cooperative Agreement.

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director

Rod Kuharich
Director

Date:
Subject:

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

I. Introduction

In 1997 the Governors of the states ofColorado. Nebraska and Wyoming signed an agreement
with the Department of Interior to improve and/or study the habitat of four endangered species in
the Central Platte River in Nebraska. The proposed program has three components: water, land,
and monitoring and research. This memorandum will highlight some of the key activities of
several of the Cooperative Agreement (CA) Committees.

II, Statns of Cooperative Agreement Activities

A brief summary of the status of important individual committee activities is provided below:

· The Water Action Plan Committee did not meet.

· The Water Management Committee met to discuss the three states future depletions plans.
Very little new information was provided from Wyoming. Their plan in essence establishes
a baseline for agricultural use based on a historical composite of maximum number of
irrigated acres. Since this tends to overstate the actual use we may seek to have this reduced.
Nebraska has begun to put some time and specifics into their plan but a significant amount of
detail is still missing. Nebraska is acknowledging and attempting to define hydrologically
connected ground and surface water, and will include an analysis of how groundwater
depletions affect surface water flow.

A potentially significant issue, which has not been discussed, is how Nebraska's water
development in the 10wer Platte, and Loup and Elkhorn River basins might effect the Pallid
Sturgeon. For Colorado we want to make sure that Nebraska's water development in these
areas does not result in an increased burden for Colorado.

Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning