After nearly 10 years of discussion, debate and negotiation, the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Platte River has been released by the Bureau of Reclamation. According to the Wildlife Management Institute, the FEIS reveals future management plans for the famed river, which originates in Colorado and Wyoming and ultimately flows into the Missouri River, which serves as the eastern boundary of Nebraska.

It features four water management alternatives that were considered and focuses on the protection of habitat for four endangered species?whooping crane, interior least tern, piping plover and the pallid sturgeon?and protecting the water rights of landowners, water users and cities along the river. To help ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for certain historic and future water uses in each state, the FEIS analyzed the impacts of the first 13 years of implementation of the proposed Recovery Implementation Program for the targeted species and their habitats in the Platte River Basin.

The analysis explored ways to restore the broad, sandy channels that once characterized the Platte and provided high-quality habitat for numerous migratory bird species that used the river as a resting site during annual migrations. Over the years, dams and water diversions for agriculture, hydroelectric power and other human uses have narrowed the river's channels and greatly reduced sediments that formed the sandbars extensively used by the migrating wildlife.

The management plan involves a cooperative effort by the many interested and impacted parties in the three states to develop a plan that meets the requirements of the ESA. Such an arrangement enables the states to avoid dealing with the same issues, but independently and potentially inconsistent with one another and relatively ineffectual as a result. A key element of the plan will be directed at increasing river flows by 130,000 to 150,000 acre-feet during spring and summer, when the birds and fish need it most. Another key element is acquisition of 10,000 acres of wildlife habitat in Nebraska.

Sources for the additional water are existing reservoirs within the basin. However, changing water rights that have been in place for decades will not sit well with existing users, and the plan is sure to create more controversy.

The FEIS is a large and complex document that provides much information on the ecology, hydrology, and economics on an important natural resource. The four alternative water management scenarios are described in seven chapters and three separate volumes.

For more on the Platte River Implementation Program, go to the Platte River Endangered Species Partnership web site at http://www.platteriver.org/. To obtain a hard copy or CD of the FEIS, contact the Platte River EIS Office at: PO Box 25007, Mail Code PL-100, Denver, Colorado 80225-0007, or by e-mail (mailto:jknipps@prs.usbr.gov) or phone 303-445-2096. (lhc)