The Platte River Recovery Implementation Plan

By Chad Smith

Introduction

In 1997, the states of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska and the Department of Interior came together in a unique partnership to develop a shared approach to managing the Platte River. Brought together by concerns over endangered species, water use and other management challenges, the states and the federal government chose collaboration and stakeholder involvement as a way to seek solutions to what had become a contentious policy debate over the future of the Platte. Water users from the three states and conservation groups joined the effort. The parties traded litigation for a meeting table and began the process of negotiating a new way of using science to deal with endangered species issues. The result was an innovative process utilizing adaptive management, stakeholder input and science to better manage the Platte for the health of the ecosystem and the people that depend on it - the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program.

Background and timing

Efforts to relicense Kingsley Dam on the North Platte River in western Nebraska, the presence of threatened and endangered species, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 1994 Biological Opinion on Platte River operations provided the backdrop for conflict over the Platte’s vital water. Rather than engage in years of courtroom battles over limited water supplies and individual river species, the governors of the three basin states joined with the secretary of interior in July 1997 to sign the “Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Habitat along the Central Platte River, Nebraska.” At the time, this cooperative approach was relatively new in the field of natural resources management and put the Platte River and its basin on the national stage as a model for a collaborative effort to resolve resource management issues.

As a part of the Cooperative Agreement, a Governance Committee (GC) was formed to lead negotiations aimed at addressing issues related to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and loss of habitat in the “Big Bend Reach” of the river in central Nebraska by developing and implementing the program. The GC consisted of representatives of the three basin states; the Bureau of Reclamation; the Fish and Wildlife Service; water users from each of the three basin states; and environmental groups. Once implemented, the program was to manage certain land and water resources following the principles of adaptive management to provide benefits for four “target species” on the river in Nebraska: the endangered whooping crane, interior least tern and pallid sturgeon, and the threatened piping plover. The program was intended to provide ESA coverage for water users in the Platte basin upstream of the Loup River confluence for effects on the target species.

Initially viewed as a three-year planning process, the work of the GC through the Cooperative Agreement phase took longer than anticipated as negotiators worked through many challenging issues. In 2004, the Bureau of Reclamation released a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the draft version of the program. And, in 2005, the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academies of Science, released its report titled “Endangered and Threatened Species of the Platte River.” That report confirmed the need for the program and the direction the GC was headed in using land and water treatments to address species and habitat concerns.

The GC continued its work on the program, incorporating public comments and issues raised in the DEIS to develop a final program. The work of the GC concluded in early 2006 with a Final Program Document containing direction for all key elements. The Bureau of Reclamation finalized the EIS, and the Fish and Wildlife Service finalized its Biological Opinion and Record of Decision (ROD) on the program. By the end of 2006, after public comment and review, the secretary of interior and the governors of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska all signed the Final Program Agreement. The program commenced on January 1, 2007.

Program goals, governance and management

In a basin-wide effort, the basin states and federal government have agreed to provide land, water and scientific monitoring and research to evaluate program benefits for the target species. The program is being implemented in an incremental manner, with the First Increment covering the 13-year period from 2007 through 2019. In general, the purpose of the program is to implement certain aspects of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s recovery plans for the target species that relate to the program’s identified “associated habitats” in the central Platte River by securing defined benefits for those species and their habitats. The program will also provide ESA compliance for existing and certain new water-related activities in the Platte basin upstream of the Loup River confluence for potential effects on the target species; help prevent the need to list more Platte River species under the ESA; mitigate the adverse effects of certain new water-related activities through approved depletions plans; and establish and maintain an organizational structure that will ensure appropriate state and federal government and stakeholder involvement in the program.

As during the Cooperative Agreement, the program is led by a Governance Committee (GC) consisting of representatives of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, South Platte River water users, North Platte River water users, Nebraska water users, and environmental groups. GC meetings are now held every other month and are open to the public.

The program established key standing advisory committees to assist the GC in implementing the program. Those committees include the Technical Advisory Committee, the Land Advisory Committee, the Water Advisory Committee and the Finance Committee. In addition, an Adaptive Management Working Group (AMWG) has been formed to inform the GC on implementation of the program’s adaptive management plan.

In 2007, the GC contracted with Dr. Jerry Kenny to serve as executive director of the program. Dr. Kenny established a program office in Kearney, Neb., and program staff are now assisting Dr. Kenny in Kearney; Lincoln, Neb.; and Denver, Colo. The executive director and his staff work closely with the GC, the standing advisory committees, the AMWG, program cooperators and partners, and the public to ensure successful implementation of the program during the first increment.

Program area

While the program is designed to provide ESA compliance for existing and certain new water-related activities throughout the Platte River basin upstream of the Loup River confluence, the land acquisition and management for the target bird species will occur in the central Platte River region (Lexington to Chapman, Neb.). Program water activities will be designed to provide benefits for the target bird species in the central Platte region and for the pallid sturgeon in the lower Platte River stretch (below the Elkhorn River confluence). These areas are generally known as the “associated habitats.”

Program costs and cost sharing

The program is estimated, in 2005 dollars, to cost roughly $320 million, with the monetary portion of that being $187 million. The federal government will contribute $157 million in cash, and Colorado and Wyoming will jointly contribute $30 million. The remaining portion will come in terms of land and water from the states; Nebraska’s entire contribution will be of this nature. The total cost of the program in terms of cash, water and land will be shared equally between the federal government and the states.

Program elements and adaptive management

The program has three main elements:

*Increasing streamflows in the central Platte River during relevant time periods through re-timing and water conservation/supply projects

*Enhancing, restoring and protecting habitat lands for the target bird species

*Accommodating certain new water-related activities

These elements will be implemented according to underlying principles that require interests in land to be acquired only from willing participants and that avoid increasing tax burdens to local citizens by paying taxes or their equivalent on program lands. Program lands will be held by a Land Interest Holding Entity (rather than by the federal or state governments) and will be managed under a “good neighbor” policy.

Central to the program is its Adaptive Management Plan (AMP), which provides a systematic process to test hypotheses and apply the information learned to improve management on the ground. The AMP was developed collaboratively by program partners and cooperators under the guidance of experts from around the country, resulting in one of the most robust and comprehensive adaptive management plans being implemented today. The AMP is centered on priority hypotheses developed jointly by numerous program partners that reflect different interpretations of how river processes work and the best approach to meeting program goals. The cooperative nature of the hypotheses reveals a shared attempt on the part of program cooperators and partners to use the best available science in an agreed-upon manner to test strategies, learn, and revise management actions accordingly. The AMP’s Integrated Monitoring and Research Plan (IMRP) will guide implementation of monitoring and research protocols during the course of implementation over the First Increment.

From a scientific perspective, the overall management objectives of the program are to:

*Improve production of interior least terns and piping plovers on the central Platte River

*Improve survival of whooping cranes during migration

*Avoid adverse impacts from program actions on pallid sturgeon populations

The work of the program through its AMP will be directed by the GC with guidance from the executive director, the AMWG and other standing advisory committees. In addition, the program will establish an Independent Scientific Advisory Committee to provide external review of implementation of the AMP, the IMRP, protocols and other scientific issues critical to successful implementation of the program. External peer review will be conducted to ensure the scientific rigor of all monitoring and research activities.

Water

The program’s long-term objective for water is to provide sufficient water to and through the central Platte River habitat area to assist in improving and maintaining habitat for the target species using incentive-based water projects. During the First Increment, the program’s objective is to re-time and improve flows in the central Platte River to reduce shortages to target flows by an average of 130,000 to 150,000 acre-feet per year at Grand Island. In addition to the improved flow conditions, small pulse flows in the spring are intended to create vegetation-free sand bars suitable for plover and tern nesting.

These objectives will be achieved through measures, including releases from the Environmental Account (EA) in Lake McConaughy. The EA is a portion of the water stored in Lake McConaughy that is set aside and managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service for the benefit of the target species. Other actions will include slightly revised operations of other water systems; general re-timing of Platte River system water projects and other project management actions; and implementation of new water supply and conservation projects in the basin undertaken by program partners and cooperators. Success of the Water Plan also relies on implementation of agreed-upon New De­pletions Plans in the three states and by the federal government in accordance with the program goal of offsetting new depletions to the Platte River that occurred after July 1997.

Land

During the First Increment, the program’s objective is to protect, restore and maintain 10,000 acres of habitat. The program’s long-term objective for land is to acquire land interests, restore where appropriate, and maintain and manage approximately 29,000 acres of suitable habitat along the central Platte River between Lexington and Chapman. Land acquired dur­ing the program’s First Incre­ment will be credited to this long-term objective as will certain lands that meet criteria established by the Governance Committee but are managed by other entities, such as environmental organizations or utility and irrigation districts.

The initial focus of land activities will be on acquiring interest in land considered part of “habitat complexes” of interest to the program—riverine habitat, wet meadow habitat and associated buffers. Non­complex habitat such as sandpits, important to the terns and plovers, and wetlands, important to whooping cranes, will also be considered. The land work of the program will be guided closely by the executive director and the Land Advisory Committee and will include important partnerships with landowners along the central Platte.

What does the future hold?

With an executive director and staff now on board, implementation of the program is proceeding earnestly to ensure program milestones and goals are achieved in a timely manner during the First Increment. Once the program’s formal authorizing legislation is approved by Congress (expected in late 2007 or early 2008), work can begin in full relative to acquiring interest in land in the central Platte. A small pulse flow is planned for the spring of 2008 to test the program’s ability to deliver water to the central Platte and ultimately test hypotheses related to increased flow and associated river processes. A hallmark of the program is to maintain constant open communication with the public and provide clear assessments of progress, challenges and future direction.

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