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Platte River Basin Study I I I demonstrate the necessity for developing an endangered species recovery program for the Platte River basin to facilitate orderly water resources management and development. I I Based on review and analysis of existing and past attempts to resolve conflicts over water resources management and development in the Platte River basin, the following is recommended: 1. Federal funding and technical assistance in the Platte River Endangered Species Recovery Program should be expanded to levels commensurate with environmental restoration programs elsewhere, including the Columbia River Salmon Restoration Program, the Upper Mississippi Environmental Management Program, the Everglades Restoration Project in Florida and the Central Valley Improvement Project. These other programs and projects offer examples of significantly greater levels offederal funding and technical assistance than have been proposed for the Platte. Consideration should also be given to developing guidelines or regulations for federal cost sharing in environmental restoration projects. Such guidelines or requirements would be based on a determination of the federal interest in specific projects and would help insure equity in funding among various projects. I I I I I 2. Federal water agencies should consider changing their planning procedures and project evaluation procedures to allow for more effective participation in environmental restoration and recovery programs. The Principles and Guidelines were originally developed to evaluate and justify individual projects; the Principles and Guidelines need to be modified to allow evaluation of projects incorporated in systems rather than individual projects (U.S. Water Resources Council, 1983 (a) and (b)). The Principles and Guidelines are being applied to maximize the National Economic Development account, while producing an environmentally acceptable project. This application practice together with the existing four accounts in the Principles and Guidelines is probably no longer relevant to many of today's water resources development and management projects, especially environmental restoration projects. Consequently, the relevant federal agencies should review the Principles and Guidelines and make necessary changes in order to make these evaluation procedures relevant to today's projects and programs. More adequate procedures for incorporating risk and uncertainty into decision I I I I I 1 .1 I I x