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<br />II <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />il <br />'I <br />I <br />I <br />!I <br />'-I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />000671 <br /> <br />Elm Creek and Rowe Sanctuary sites were very similar in general topography to <br />the Crane Meadow site. <br />An in-depth review of the Platte River Wetland Hvdroloqv Studv by <br />Wesche et. al. (1994) was performed to determine the wet meadow site most <br />suitable for augmentation with groundwater recharge. The overall hydrologic <br />compatibility of each site with regard to implementation of a recharge basin was <br />investigated. <br />The "driest" of the three sites was Elm Creek, followed by Rowe <br />Sanctuary, with the Crane Meadows site being the "wettest". The term "driest" <br />refers to the average level of groundwater below the surface. The causes of the <br />lowest water table at the Elm Creek site are two-fold. First, the Elm Creek site is <br />adjacent to a very small channel of the Platte River. Surface water from the <br />Platte historically enters this channel only during high flows. At lower flows, the <br />channel is supplied primarily by a groundwater drainage canal that intercepts a <br />small channel near its inlet, about 1.3 miles west of the site (Wesche et. al. <br />1994). Second, another groundwater drainage canal is located along the <br />southern border of this study site. Groundwater drainage canals are used in the <br />area surrounding the study site to make croplands more accessible by lowering <br />the water table. The implementation of a recharge basin near this drain would <br />result in a significant portion of the recharge water draining away from the site <br />rather than raising the groundwater level for the benefit of the wet meadow <br />vegetation. <br />The Crane Meadows site located on the Mormon Island Crane Meadows <br />Wildlife Refuge was classified as the "wettest" site by Wesche et. al.(1994). <br />This site is characterized by a large proportion of low, seasonally flooded wet <br />meadows, with some higher dry meadows, and a tree lined fringe on the natural <br />levees bordering the river. During the inspection of the Crane Meadows site, Dr. <br />Paul Currier, Deputy Director; and Plant and Wetland Ecologist for the Platte <br />River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, believed that the Crane Meadow site <br />was already, essentially, the type of wet meadow most preferred by the migrating <br />Whooping Crane and that implementation of a recharge basin at this location <br /> <br />13 <br />