Final Minutes
Water Management Committee Meeting
The Water Management Committee (WMC) meeting began at 8:15 a.m. The topic for the meeting was the reduced channel capacity (also referred to as the "choke point") within the North Platte River near North Platte, Nebraska. The Chair identified that the Governance Committee has asked the WMC to develop a "scope" for discussion at a future Governance Committee workshop regarding the reduction in channel capacity.
The concern is that a survey of the river identified a reduction to the channel's carrying capacity and has prompted the National Weather Service to establish a new Flood Stage on the North Platte River near North Platte of 5.7 feet, approximately 1980 cubic feet per second (cfs). This equates to a flow reduction of about 1824 cfs compared to the 1994 Flood Stage of 6.0 feet (approximately 3804 cfs). The new Flood Stage limits the amount of water that can be delivered from the Lake McConaughy Environmental Account and could limit deliveries by the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (Central) to meet downstream demands.
The EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) Team's Peter Murphy and Central's Mike Drain briefed the WMC on the matter. Peter distributed graphs illustrating a trend of increased gauge heights to pass similar flows over the life of the gauging station on the North Plate River at North Platte, Nebraska, and discussed them with the WMC. It was also noted the EIS model includes a parameter to adjust the flow capacity for modeling purposes and reducing the flow capacity affects the ability of the Environmental Account to provide benefit to the habitat area.
Mike presented aerial photos of the area of concern and pointed out the locations were flooding has been reported. Central has conducted a survey of the river by canoe and believes the problem to be more than a single "choke point". Central has contacted Parsons Engineering to conduct a preliminary study to identify potential causes, additional studies needed, and short term solutions. Parsons Engineering is preparing a scope of work for the study and Central anticipates once the scope of work has been received, Parsons Engineering will be given notice to proceed. Central's lead and contact person for the study is Mike Drain. It is anticipated that a teleconference report of the findings will be given to the entities cooperating in the study on November 23, 2002, with a written report to follow by December 31, 2002.
The WMC discussed how to proceed. It was decided the information collected by Parsons Engineering would be useful to the WMC in scoping the issue for a Governance Committee workshop and the workshop would not be held until after the report is available. The WMC will review the scope of work for the study and offer suggestions regarding other work tasks to be included. The suggestions will be considered and Parsons Engineering will include the tasks identified into the study, if possible. The EIS Team expressed an interest in examining other sections of the Platte River to determine if reduced channel capacity may exist elsewhere. The EIS Team was asked to identify potential sections of concern, with the understanding that a separate effort to assess those areas may be pursued following the review of the study.
The WMC will support the cooperative effort underway to study the reduced channel capacity in the North Platte River at North Platte, Nebraska. Following the completion of the study, the WMC will review the information and report to the Governance Committee. The National Weather Service will be contacted and invited to give a presentation on how their agency establishes the river flood stages.
The meeting adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time.
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