Explanation and Need for the PRRIP

Home Browse Search

PLATTE RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM Why the Platte Program is Needed by Colorado The Platte Program is designed to resolve escalating conflicts between water use and endangered species protection that affect federal permitting of existing and planned irrigation, municipal and industrial water supply proj ects in the Platte River basin in Colorado. Resolution of these conflicts is critical to the continued use and development of water supplies to meet the needs of Colorado's rapidly growing Front Range. The Conflict Water-related projects which need a federal permit, license, funding, ar are carried out by a federal agency require consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Federal agencies are required by Section 7(a)(2) of the ESA to insure that those actions are not likely to jeopardize listed species or adversely modify their designated critical habitat. Water projects in the Platte River basin routinely require a 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers for their construction, operation and maintenance. Other projects require special use permits issued by the Forest Service for water storage or conveyance facilities located on forest lands. The Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers also own major water collection, distribution and storage facilities that provide water to numerous ditch companies and municipalities or are used for flood control purposes in Colorado. These types of activities are all subject to Section 7 of the ESA. The FWS believes that the Platte River resource is in a state of jeopardy, and that actions resulting in water depletions to the Platte River will continue the deterioration of the endangered species' habitat. The federally listed species at issue include the whooping crane, least tern, piping plover and pallid sturgeon. The FWS has issued "jeopardy" biological opinions for virtually all water-depletive proj ects in the Platte River basin since the late 1970s, citing either new or continued water depletions as contributing factors in j eopardizing the existence of these species and adversely affecting designated critical habitat. Notable examples include the biological opinions issued in 1994 for the renewal of Forest Service special use authorizations for six agricultural and municipal water projects along Colorado's Front Range. The 1994 opinions concluded that each of those existing water facilities would cause jeopardy to the listed species and adversely modify Platte River designated critical habitat in Nebraska. The depletions associated with one of those long-standing projects was 0.64 annual acre feet. Under the jeopardy standard, individual water projects undergoing ESA consultation must avoid or fully offset all project depletions to FWS instream flow recommendations for the Platte River in the same amount, timing, duration and frequency in which they occur. Land acquisition and a sediment augmentation component may also be a required component of mitigation for federal authorizations that do not have the benefit of a recovery program. Fulfillment of these requirements may, for some projects, simply not be possible. For many others, these reyuirements have delayed permitting and compromised water yield and cost-effectiveness of the projects.