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and catfish. The overall program will be managed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that annual benefits resulting from fish and wildlife activity will total nearly $1.9 million. Land Acquisition Requirements Nearly 32,500 acres of land will be acquired for Narrows Dam, reservoir, relocations, recreatIon facilities, and fish and wildlife use. This amount is reduced from the 42,585 acres shown in the 1976 plan. Lands within the surcharge' pool outside the acquisition line will remain in private ownership, and damages will be paid upon actual flooding. Nearby Jackson Lake will not be acquired. Relocations A recent survey indicates that 725 people oc- cupying 231 dwellings, in the communities of Weldona, Goodrich, and Orchard and on nearby farms will have to be relocllted. The number of people to be relocated is slightly less than the 1976 estimates. ' Several businesses located in the reservoir area will be acquired. Relocation assistance will be provided by Reclamation. Some 26 miles of Union Pacific Railroad line will be relocated around the south side of the reservoir , and about 20 miles of State Highway No. 144 will be relocated around the north side of the reservoir. About 12 miles of existing county roads will be improved, and 3 miles of new county road constructed. Powerlines, telephone lines, a domestic water supply pipeline, fences, and other facilities will also be moved prior to the filling of Narrows Reservoir. Costs and Benefits Estimated total project cost of the Narrows Unit based on October 1982 prices is $372 million. Of that amount, at least $249.3 million is reimbur- sable, consisting of irrigation, $88.0 million; Pick- Sloan power revenues irrigating assistance, $63.7 million; M&I, $79.1 million; and recreation and fish and wildlife, $18.5 million. Total annual costs for the project are estimated to be $16.7 million, and total annual benefits are estimated at $22.4 million, resulting in a total benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.34 to 1. NEPA and Endangered Species Compliance Several comprehensive studies have ~hown that the Narrows Unit will have both beneficial and detrimental effects on the area's natural environ- ment. Overall, however, benefits of' the project significantly outweigh detriments, In addition mitigatory measures 'will be taken to lesse~ detrimental effects. Impacts were discussed in an environmental statement issued in 1976. Reclamation has prepared a supplement to update information in the original statement and identify any new impacts. Interested persons will have an oppor- tunity to comment on the supplement later this summer. A final document is scheduled to be issued in January. In January 1983, Fish and Wildlife, Service issued a biological opinion which stated that the project ".. .is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the whooping crane and adversely modify. , ." its critical habitat in Nebraska, Fish and Wildlife and Reclamation personnel are currently studying ways that impacts of the project on the habitat of the whooping crane along the Platte River in central Nebraska can be minimized, Solutions are being sought in order to comply with the En- dangered Species Act. In Jllne 1983, Fish and Wildlife Service provided Reclamation with several additional desired measures that, if implemented, would mitigate project effects on fishery and wildlife resources along the Platte River in Nebraska. The adoption of these measures in the project plan is subject to the deliberations and resulting findings con- clusions, and recommendations of the task force and their acceptance by local and state officials in Colorado and Nebraska. For More Information . , . concerning the Narrows Unit, write to Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Missouri Region, P.O. Box 25247, Denver, Colorado 80225, telephone (303) 234-4257, GPO 840 - 1 18