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See other minutes at: Governance Committee / Land Committee / Water Management Committee / Water Action Plan Committee

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FINAL Minutes
Cooperative Agreement
Technical Committee Meeting

August 4-6, 1999
CNPPID's Jeffrey Lodge
Brady, Nebraska

Call to Order

Jay Maher called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. and welcomed the attendees (attendance list attached).

Agenda and Minutes

Jay announced that the agenda would be altered to take better advantage of Dr. Lyman McDonald's attendance. Jay also suggested moving the election of chair to the first agenda item; however, it was decided to wait until later.

Martha Tacha suggested a change to the draft minutes regarding comments Jim Lutey made about Relationship of R1-1, R2-1, and R3-1 on May 17th. The suggestion was to change "biological" to "species" and remove "monitoring" under what the FWS indicated would be needed during the first increment. Jim was contacted by phone to clarify his statement, and the minutes were changed accordingly. There were two spelling errors identified, and the minutes were accepted by consensus.

Relationship of R1-1, R2-1, and R3-1

Least Terns and Piping Plovers

Mark Peyton updated the Technical Committee (TC) on changes that had been made at the last meeting. Bob Swanson discussed the different maps that he had investigated as possible maps for delineating the river and associated habitat. He presented a map based on groundwater and the soils associated with the groundwater as a possible map for consideration.

Clayton Derby had received written comments from Dave Felley since the last TC meeting, and those comments were read through. Several of the suggested comments entailed significant changes to the document, and the entire TC discussed these. The TC came to agreement on what changes should be made.

The TC discussed combining the tern and plover document into one. It was decided to keep them separate, at least for the time being. The changes to the tern document discussed today will also be made to the plover document. Also, reference to the need to address "water temperature trends" and "daily/monthly temperatures" will be removed from the plover document.

Whooping Crane

Martha Tacha described changes to the whooping crane document made by the subgroup and described the process that they followed. She also pointed out items that were still needed and places where members of the subgroup had not reached agreement. The main point of discussion centered around including "change in frequency of occurrence, distribution, and duration of whooping crane use on the Platte River system" as a Potential Biological/Physical Response or as an Anticipated Monitoring Measurement. Dale Strickland and others noted that this will be something that will be addressed during the Program, but items such as this have been put under Anticipated Monitoring Measurements in the other documents. It was agreed to include this information under the Anticipated Monitoring Measurements.

 The remainder of the day was spent editing the whooping crane document. Some of the topics discussed included defining migration habitat as including roosting, loafing and foraging areas and making the Research Measurements more specific to the central Platte region. Reference to determining items outside of the central Platte was removed from the document. The document will need to include wording that information collected during the Program will be compared to other available data.

Adjourn for August 4th - 5:30 p.m.

Call to Order for August 5 at 8:05 a.m.

Relationship of R1-1, R2-1, and R3-1 (Continued from August 4)

Pallid Sturgeon

Gene Zuerlein described the process that the subgroup used in developing the pallid sturgeon document. Following this, there was a discussion regarding what is known of pallid sturgeon habitat. Gene and Sharon Whitmore addressed the questions from the group and also noted that there is ongoing research in the lower Platte River that will likely address many of the habitat use questions.

The goal of the Program related to the pallid sturgeon was discussed. The goal could be interpreted to look at all flows in the central and lower Platte and the effects of these on pallid sturgeon or just the flows that are a result of the Program. There was less than full agreement on the level of information needed on the pallid sturgeon. One point of view was that the Program is to benefit least terns, piping plovers, and whooping cranes and to "test the assumption that this type of management can benefit pallid sturgeon in the lower Platte River. The other point of view was that the Program is to be used to benefit least terns, piping plovers, whooping cranes, and pallid sturgeon. This issue will be brought to the next Governance Committee for their interpretation and determination.

During the discussion of Potential Management Options, several individuals identified that the only option for the Program is to manage flows in the central Platte River because there is no protection of Program water below Chapman, Nebraska. The Potential Management Options were edited to reflect this. During the discussion of Potential Monitoring Measures, there was a significant discussion regarding the need to consider the effects of the Loup and Elkhorn Rivers when looking at flows and sediment. The use of shovelnose sturgeon as a surrogate for monitoring and research of pallid sturgeon was also discussed and may be used in some fashion.

Edits made on the pallid sturgeon, least tern, piping plover, and whooping crane will be incorporated into the documents, and the information will be used in the Integrated Monitoring and Research Component (IMRC) that the TC is preparing for the EIS Team. Information for the Other Species will also be incorporated into the IMRC when it is made available to the TC.

Other Species

Jan McKee outlined how she plans to address drafting this document. She plans to divide the area into the large habitat types (i.e., open water, forest) and then look at what species should be considered in each of these habitats. She will use the list of habitats in the Baseline Document, and there will likely be approximately 20 species of interest in these habitats. A draft will be prepared in 2 weeks.

Biological Response

In clarifying the comment made by Jim Lutey in the June minutes, the issue of using biological response (species and habitat) for ESA compliance was discussed. The discussion was confused over terminology but was clarified as follows:

Biological response includes both habitat and species response. Program compliance will involve meeting the milestones (land and water) for the first increment. These milestones may contain habitat milestones (habitat response) but will not involve species response. Thus, program compliance may include habitat response. For example, program compliance may be based in part on achieving a certain number of acres of suitable habitat. This issue will likely be further clarified during discussion of Milestone P3-1 at the Governance Committee level.

 Protocols

Lyman McDonald gave his overview of monitoring and research based on his involvement over the last few meetings. He noted that the Program will likely be short of money, and monitoring is often one of the first items to be cut from large-scale efforts such as this. Because of this, monitoring will need to be defined in an economical as well as a time efficient manner. The primary design consideration will be to gather the basic information that is needed in the various models that will be used in the Program. There will likely be other monitoring activities that are "wanted" for one reason or another, and these will need to be considered carefully.

Adequate monitoring and research will be expensive and will be limited by the amount of money available. Basic/necessary monitoring should be designed first, followed by research needs. If not done in this order, research can quickly use a very large portion of the budget. The TC will need to know how much money will be made available for monitoring and research before an effective design can be completed.

Another means to focus the monitoring and research is through determining how the data will be analyzed and used. Monitoring does not answer cause and effect, only if there is a change. If a sudden change is noted, research can be utilized to determine cause and effect.

Lyman suggested prioritizing monitoring and research for each species with an estimated cost as a start, realizing that the Program cannot measure everything. It will be necessary to use the most economical measurements of variables. The monitoring should be designed so that such things as monitoring locations can be expanded or contracted as data are gathered and analyzed. Also, it is important to monitor habitat and not where the birds or animals are located. This is important because these locations will likely change over the course of the Program, and the monitoring needs to be consistent throughout.

A subgroup was formed to address the general protocols that would be needed for all of the species (e.g., remote sensing). All subgroups will identify the protocols needed and estimate an approximate cost for conducting the monitoring and/or research. As an example, the entire group went through the process for "Physical and structural habitat characteristics of the study area" for terns, plovers, and cranes. The subgroups will utilize the "Protocol Definition/Outline for Monitoring and Research Conducted as part of the Cooperative Agreement and Proposed Program" as a template when estimating costs and other needed items.

Protocols that are general across more than one species include:

1) Physical/structural characteristics of habitat

2) Channel characteristics/geomorphology

3) Amount and timing of program water to Grand Island

4) Flows and other physical components of the river

5) Data storage and retrieval

Jan McKee and Martha Tacha will head the effort for general protocols; Jim Jenniges will head the effort for whooping cranes; Mark Peyton will head the effort for terns and plovers; and Sharon Whitmore will head the effort for pallid sturgeon. This will be done for the next meeting.

Draft Protocol for Monitoring Tern and Plover Reproduction

The "straw-dog" protocol presented at the last meeting had not been redrafted. Several questions were clarified by the TC that will be incorporated into the next draft protocol. The protocol will be distributed before the next TC meeting.

EIS Team Needs

A rough draft was distributed prior to the meeting outlining the Integrated Monitoring and Research Component (IMRC). The IMRC will be provided to the EIS Team for their analysis of the monitoring and research to be conducted for the proposed Program. The TC had not had time to thoroughly review the draft before the meeting. It was decided that the TC would go through and address the comments provided by Curt Brown. Martha Tacha also had comments from Dave Felley.

The revised least tern, piping plover, whooping crane, and pallid sturgeon documents will be incorporated into the IMRC. Comments from Curt Brown will also be incorporated. The next draft will be distributed to the TC prior to the next meeting.

Election of Chair and Addition of TC Members

Two nominations for chair were made: 1) Paul Tebbel and 2) Mark Czaplewski and John Shadle as co-chairs. A secret ballot was used, and Paul was elected as chair.

Motions were made to add Paul Tebbel, John Shadle, Martha Tacha, and Rocky Plettner as official members of the TC. Jeff Lucas has left Tri-Basin NRD, and a To Be Determined (TBD) slot will be placed on the membership list for Tri-Basin. Paul Tebbel will contact Tri-Basin and ask for a replacement. Wyoming will also be replacing John Wade on the TC with Dave Zelenka and/or Phil Ogle. This will be brought to the Governance Committee for their inclusion in Addendum 1 of the TC Charter.

Remote Sensing

Jan McKee presented a memo received from Curt Brown indicating that the Bureau of Reclamation would not have sufficient time to complete the LIDAR mapping of the central Platte. LIDAR is one method used for remote sensing. Curt recommended completing the project and using the information in monitoring and research. The data collection needs to be done at low flows, most likely late this fall. The group working on identifying "general protocols" will evaluate the proposal and give a presentation at the next TC meeting regarding the usefulness and capabilities of LIDAR.

Adjourn for August 5th - 5:45 p.m.

Call to Order for August 6th

Status Reports

Peer Review

Dale updated the TC on activities underway for peer review of the Draft Water Conservation/Supply Report (Boyle Report). The report will be reviewed at a reconnaissance level. The Water Management Committee distributed a request for proposals and is receiving proposals. A decision on the peer reviewers will be made at the August 18 Governance Committee meeting. The TC agreed that there is not a role for them at this time in this review.

For review of the Baseline Document, the TC decided that it needs the last three portions still to be provided. Therefore, the August 20 deadline for comments will not be attainable for the TC. The TC still plans to provide a unified comment to the FWS regarding quality of the data in the document and its utility for the purposes of R3-1. Jan McKee noted that the document is needed for analysis of the existing conditions in the PEIS by October 15, and the GIS component will likely not be complete until that time. The TC requested 30 days to review the document, 30 days to compile the comments, and 30 days to finalize the comments and get them to the FWS.

A general discussion of the Baseline Document followed. Some of the points discussed included the lack of documentation of methods, the need to identify areas where data are insufficient, and utility of the data in estimating the effects of the proposed Program. It was agreed that there may be some important parameters which lack pre-Program data sufficient to allow a comparison with changes resulting from the Program.

Cottonwood Ranch

NPPD has completed the management plan and submitted it to FERC for approval. NPPD will likely start implementing the plan within the next year. NPPD asked that the TC be represented on the Oversight Committee. For monitoring, NPPD and Central will spend $100,000 per year; however, this will likely not be adequate to determine the effectiveness of management. The TC agreed that monitoring of Cottonwood Ranch should be integrated into the overall Program and may be used as a demonstration project of some nature. Copies of the management plan will be distributed to the TC, and NPPD will give a presentation at the next TC with a specific request for assistance.

Environmental Account

Sharon updated the TC on the organization of the Environmental Account Committee and indicated that she would like more input from biologists. Dale and Sharon will work together in developing an illustration of the relationship among the different support groups and the EA manager.

Habitat Acquisition Plan

The TC discussed potential members and participants that could be involved in developing the plan. Possible individuals include Curt Shroeder, Steve Anschutz, Sharon Whitmore, Paul Tebbel, Phil Ogle, Rocky Plettner, Jim Jenniges, Paul Currier, Brent Lathrop, Mike Fritz, Kevin Urie, and members designated by the Habitat Criteria Subcommittee of the Land Committee. The Executive Director's office will attempt to set up a meeting for the week of August 23.

Other Discussions

Gary Krapu will be making a presentation of his work with sandhill cranes at the Governance Committee meeting in Cheyenne on August 18. Interest was expressed in having Gary give a similar presentation to the TC.

The TC may give a presentation to the Governance Committee at their October meeting on the research and monitoring needs of the first increment. If this is done, the information needs to be distributed to the Governance Committee by October 1.

The Integrated Monitoring and Research Component needs to get to the Governance Committee in September for feedback before delivery to the EIS Team in October.

Upcoming Meetings

Next meeting was changed to September 21, 22, and 23. The meeting will start at 1 p.m. on the 21st with a field trip to Cottonwood Ranch and will conclude with a full day meeting (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) on the 22nd and half day meeting (8 a.m. to 12 p.m.) on the 23rd. The half day on the 23rd is tentative, depending on need. Location for the meeting is potentially the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Adjourn for August 6th

Task List