WSP08290

• File Number: 8449.916
• Description: South Platte Projects
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 8/1/1997
• Author: McLaughlin Water Eng
• Title: Platte River Basin Study
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

Pfarre Riyer Basin Srudy

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year. This 130,000 - 150,000 acre-feet per year is the amount necessary to be
supplied to the habitat for the first increment of the Memorandum of
Agreement/Cooperative Agreement (anticipated to be 10 years or more).
Additional water beyond 130,000 - 150,000 acre-feet per year is to be
determined through the adapted management and peer review processes.
The 130,000 - 150,000 acre-feet per year estimate represents the portion of
the total flow deficits the Department of the Interior and the states have
agreed to use as the goal for Phase I of the proposed MOA/Cooperative
Agreement. By June 1995, the states and the federal government had not yet
reached agreement on development of the recovery program and extended the
deadline in the MOA for development of the recovery program to mid-
December 1996.

During the latter part of 1995, the Pathfinder Reservoir modification
alternative was developed, which involved replacing storage in Pathfinder
Reservoir lost to sedimentation by increasing the height of Pathfinder Dam.
Other sources of water for the wildlife habitat in the Big Bend reach of the
Platte River were developed during this period including the Tamarack Plan
(named after the Colorado Division of Wildlife Tamarack property) and the
revised Nebraska Plan. The Tamarack Plan would divert water from the
South Platte River in Colorado for approximately 10,000 acre-feet of
groundwater recharge in highly permeable sand hill areas near the South
Platte during November to March. This water would then return to the
Platte River as groundwater return flows, but with an altered time pattern of
return flows that would produce benefits to the Big Bend reach. The
Nebraska Plan included an environmental storage account in Lake
McConaughy for purposes of releasing water for the Big Bend reach. The
reduction in shortage produced by the Pathfinder modification plan,
Tamarack plan and the environmental account in Lake McConaughy was
expected to provide approximately 70,000 acre-feet per year. Therefore
approximately 60,000 to 80,000 acre-feet per year of water would still be
required to meet the revised FWS goal of 130,000 - 150,000 acre-feet per year.

During early 1996, concern was raised by the MOA negotiating group with
the necessity of complying with NEPA (U.S, Department of the Interior, et ai,
1996). Concern about complying with NEPA resulted in a change in MOA
strategy from establishing a recovery program to producing a cooperative
agreement that will meet NEPA compliance requirements in three years for
the associated recovery program. The FWS also agreed to rely upon this
Cooperative Agreement during the three-year NEPA compliance period in
order to avoid issuing non-jeopardy opinions in Section 7 consultations.

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