Water Management Committee Meeting

The Water Management Committee (WMC) meeting began at 9:45 a.m. at the Ramada Inn in Kearney, Nebraska. After brief introductions, the WMC reviewed the schedule for its upcoming meetings. The next meetings are Workshops No. 1 and No. 2 (August 11 and 12, respectively) with the consultant in Denver, Colorado.

At the June 2 WMC meeting, it was decided to have the consultant propose methodologies to be used in the Water Conservation/Supply Study (Study) for determining effects to ground water for the WMC to review and approve. The consultant suggested the WMC designate 3 to 4 members who could be contacted with regard to past methods used in the basin, to ensure the methods proposed by the consultant would be acceptable to the WMC. The WMC members identified for the consultant to contact regarding past methods were Becky Mathisen, Ann Bleed, Mike Drain, Jon Altenhofen, Dick Stenzel, and Duane Woodward. The consultant is to contact these people directly to obtain background information on past methods used in the basin.

It was decided to go ahead with Workshop No. 2 as scheduled to keep the Study moving forward. Therefore, the original goal of Workshop No. 2 to decide the methodologies for the determination of hydrologically connected ground water, was modified to discuss and refine the methods to be used in the Study. An agenda item for the September 1 meeting will be to reach a decision on the methods for the Study. It is anticipated the methods selected for the Study will be recommended to the Governance Committee (GC) at their September 2 meeting.

The consultant will provide the long list of alternatives for the Study to the Chairman, John Lawson, by July 27. Once received, the Chairman will forward the list to WMC members for review prior to Workshop No. 1.

Workshops No. 1 and No. 2 will be held in Denver, Colorado, at the Fish and Wildlife Service Office Building in the 3^rd floor Conference Room. Workshop No. 1 will be held on August 11 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Workshop No. 2 will be held on August 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The W14-1 Subgroup will meet in the 3^rd floor conference room prior to Workshop No. 1 and No. 2 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

The Chairman called for additional agenda items and was provided with the following topics.

1. It was suggested to define the meaning of words such as consensus, quorum, recommendation, agreement, and to establish mechanisms for reaching a consensus.

The term consensus is interpreted as general agreement of the WMC members. The WMC's goal is to function by consensus. However, when a consensus is not possible, the WMC will provide its recommendation, accompanied by a minority report, to the GC for action.

2. The Outreach Committee (OC) has prepared a draft Outreach Plan and is seeking comments. Jim Lutey provided copies of the draft plan to the WMC.

The WMC discussed Action Item No. 1. f. on page 4 of the draft, regarding information about the Water Conservation/Supply Study and how it will be disseminated to the public. The WMC chairman asked the WMC to provided comments on the Draft Outreach Plan by July 31, 1998, so he can forward them onto the OC.

3. A one-hour radio talk show, broadcast from KRVN of Lexington, Nebraska, is scheduled for late August or early September. Does the WMC want a representative to participate alongside Dale Strickland and probably Jim Lundgren?

Possible participants were identified as Mike Drain, Duane Woodward, Frank Kwapnioski, and Kent Miller. Mike Drain will coordinate who the WMC representative will be.

Next, the WMC discussed the Study. The contracts for the Study have been signed and the consultant is proceeding with the Study. The Chairman asked the Consultant, Blaine Dwyer of Boyle Engineering, to review the Memorandum on Assumptions and Methods that was distributed to the WMC members by Mr. Lawson's letter dated July 17, 1998. Mr. Dwyer reviewed with the WMC the Memorandum on Assumptions and Methods. Mr. Dwyer also introduced the Assistant Project Manager for the Study, Erin Wilson.

The review addressed the consultant's assumptions and methods for each task as listed in the Scope of Work. Assumptions and methods for Task No. 2 were discussed, including the Long List of Alternatives, existence of digital maps, data needs, and format of the Long List. The Chairman asked the WMC members to provide the names of any technical staff who the consultant could contact to research and obtain the available digital maps for the basin. The following names for the consultant to contact regarding existing digital maps for the basin were provided at the meeting.

Rich Kern Nebraska Natural Resources Commission 402/471-2081

Steve Soberski Nebraska Natural Resources Commission 402/471-2081

Chris Stanton US Geological Survey - Nebraska District 402/437-5802

The consultant suggested data and reference materials could be shared with the Platte River Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Team. Mr. Dwyer was told that phone contact with the EIS Team for data and reference materials was appropriate. The consultant will not participate in EIS Team meetings. Only available data will be shared. Analyses based on the data is to be kept independent. Neither the schedule for the EIS nor the Study will be delayed as a result of waiting for data from either party.

The WMC agreed with the tabular format for the Long List of Alternatives as described by Mr. Dwyer, with the exception that any fatal flaws associated with an alternative in the Long List from previous studies be noted. The Long List of Alternatives will be a comprehensive list to be further refined. The WMC asked that the Long List include other types of alternatives studied in other states. The Long List of Alternatives will be provided to the Chairman by July 27.

At noon, the WMC took a one-hour lunch break. Due to limited time, the WMC members were asked to review the Memorandum on Assumptions and Methods on their own and provide written comments to Mr. Lawson by July 31. He will forward the comments to the consultant. Further discussion of the Assumptions and Methods will be included as an item for discussion in one of the upcoming workshops.

The Chairman then asked the W14-1 Subgroup Chairman (Jon Altenhofen) to lead the discussion regarding the Subgroup's work on the bullets No. 1 and No. 2 of Milestone W14-1. Mr. Altenhofen began by reviewing with the WMC the 1975 to 1994 Time Period Justification for the Study. A concern was expressed that the 1975-1994 time period was too short and a longer time period would cover a boarder range of water supply conditions. The WMC discussed the advantages and disadvantages associated with various time periods. The WMC agreed to use the 1975 to 1994 time period as a screening criterion to evaluate the effectiveness of the viable water conservation/supply alternatives identified. The Action Plan would be formulated from these viable water conservation/supply alternatives. The EIS Team will evaluate the use of a longer time period to analyze alternatives during the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

The 1975 to 1994 Time Period Justification will be revised to include the decision of the WMC and incorporate the other comments offered by the WMC members. Mr. Lawson will make the initial recommendation regarding the use of the 1975 to 1994 time period for purposes of the Study at the GC meeting on July 22. The revised Time Period Justification document will be provided to the WMC at the August 11 workshop, finalized at the September 1 WMC meeting, and provided to the GC at its September 2 meeting.

The W14-1 Subgroup is working to develop monthly loss factors. Mr. Altenhofen provided a paper documenting a 3-step process used to determine monthly loss factors for the South Platte River in Colorado. This process will be applied to the North Platte and Platte Rivers and evaluated. The W14-1 Subgroup's next meeting will be at Kingsley on July 30 at 10:00 a.m. The Subgroup is also planning to meet from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on August 11 and August 12, prior to the WMC workshops.

The Subgroup's goal is to have the information identified under bullets No. 1 and No. 2 ready to give to the consultant in late September/early October. The information compiled to date is available on Central's FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site in various file formats. Please note when importing Lotus spreadsheet files into Excel, the average computations are not converted correctly (blank cells are not factored into the computation of the average).

The WMC discussed briefly the Peer Review Guidelines. Items needing peer review as identified by the individual committees are to be made known to the Executive Director. The Executive Director will administer the peer review process for the GC. The WMC questioned if the work products given to the consultant by the WMC or the consultant's work products for the Study needed peer review. The Chairman asked for comments regarding the Peer Review Guidelines be provided to him on July 31.

The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.