Water Management Committee Workshop No. 2

The Water Management Committee (WMC) Workshop No. 2 with the consultant, Boyle Engineering, for the Water Conservation/Supply Study (Study) began at 8:00 a.m. at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Office in Lakewood, Colorado. After the Boyle Team members for this workshop were introduced and the agenda for the workshop was reviewed, the Boyle Team discussed with the WMC the creation of the Long List of Alternatives. The water conservation/supply alternatives identified were categorized by management techniques and consumptive use. The alternatives included on the draft Long List presented all the general "types/categories" of water conservation/supply alternatives the Boyle Team could enumerate.

Colorado WMC representatives asked that alternatives involving new transbasin diversions be removed now from the Long List, specifically alternatives involving Colorado River (west slope) water. The use of new west slope water imports for habitat improvement in central Nebraska is contrary to the Colorado River Compact. Jon Altenhofen indicated that letters from the Denver Water Board and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District regarding the matter have been sent.

The Chairman provided clarification of the handling of potential alternatives between the Study and the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Team. While the Governance Committee (GC) can direct the WMC not to include alternatives that are unacceptable for consideration in the Study, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that the EIS Team look at all alternatives identified in the scoping process and consider all issues making an alternative not viable.

Mr. Altenhofen indicated some of the alternatives on the Long List were already identified as potential alternatives to be used to offset Colorado's future depletions under the Program. This competition for alternatives will need to be addressed at a later date.

The WMC discussed at length the alternative of importing water from outside the Platte River Basin. The WMC concluded that screening out alternatives for reasons other than technical is a policy decision that should be made by the GC. It was decided that the Chairman would ask the GC for direction regarding Colorado River imports at their September 2, 1998, meeting.

After a short break, the Boyle Team continued by discussing the process to arrive at the Short List of Alternatives. The process involves completing the Long List, developing screening criteria, performing the screening to develop the Short List, and preparing a memorandum describing each short listed alternative. Workshop No. 3 on September 16, 1998, will focus on developing screening criteria for the alternatives. The Boyle Team will provide draft screening criteria to the WMC Chairman for distribution to the WMC two weeks prior to Workshop No. 3. The Long List of Alternatives will not be finalized until the screening criteria are established and approved.

The Boyle Team described a two phase screening process that would under the first phase screen the categories of alternatives and in the second phase, the categories would be listed by specific projects with details for further screening. The WMC asked the Boyle Team to include more details for the first phase screening by re-categorizing the water conservation/supply alternatives into similar types of categories and providing specific examples of the alternatives under each category. The WMC wants as much information as possible to be included and specifically requested information regarding the potential amount of yield, costs per acre, and limitations be provided.

After a lunch break from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., the workshop continued. The Boyle Team will regroup the 78 alternatives and include additional detailed information that can be found in the reference material. The Boyle Team asked for time on the WMC upcoming September 1 meeting to resolve questions that arise from the regrouping of the alternatives. The Boyle Team will provide the revised draft Long List and give a status report at the September 1 WMC meeting. Other agenda items identified for the September 1 WMC meeting included the W14-1 Subgroup status report and Colorado's responses to comments regarding their Future Depletion Plan.

The Boyle Team asked the WMC for additional alternatives not included on the draft Long List. The following responses were provided.

Projects similar to Tamarack (recharge/return flow)

Improvements to water control structures

Forest management techniques to increase water supply yield

Snow pack management

Payment of power interference charges in exchange for water (project reoperations)

Basin wide operations planning cooperation

Recover unused storage capacity

Remove storage restrictions (institutional constraints)

Reservoir linings

Gravel pit lining (new storage category)

Relocation of return points

The Boyle Team wants to begin to contact Irrigation Districts (ID) to obtain information regarding their water conservation and supply plans. The Scope of Work in the contract under Task 2c (Characterize Existing Water Supply System and Uses) states: "The major irrigation districts will be contacted, with WMC approval, early in the process to inform them of the Study and to collect information on their current water conservation and supply plans." The phrase "to inform them of the Study and" should be stricken, as it is not the responsibility of the Boyle Team to provide information to the public regarding the Study. The WMC established the process for which data collection would be accomplished. The Boyle Team will first identify the ID to be contacted and the specific data required to the WMC. A member of the WMC will be assigned to initiate the contact and potentially accompany the Boyle Team for the data collection. Any outreach material will be provided by the WMC. The Boyle Team should refer anyone contacting them for information regarding the Study to the Chairman or the Executive Director.

The Executive Director asked if any outreach is taking place regarding the Study and how the WMC plans to provide information like the Short List of Alternatives to the public, when available. Some WMC members indicated that meetings within their respective States with the water users are being held to provide information about the Study. The process to provide information like the Short List of Alternatives and other information to the public, needs further discussion and will be put on the agenda for WMC meeting September 1.

The Boyle Team asked the WMC for input regarding initial ideas for screening criteria for the alternatives. The WMC identified the criteria should include compact issues, impacts to other water users, impact to wetlands, impact to species of known concern within state boundaries, etc. WMC members were encouraged to stay after the conclusion of the workshop or send any initial ideas regarding screening criteria for the alternatives directly to the Team Leader, Blaine Dwyer. He can be contacted by phone at (303) 987-3443; by Fax at (303) 987-3908; or by E-mail at bdwyer@boyleengineering.com.

The Boyle Team asked the WMC to offer suggestions for improving the workshops. The WMC members were pleased with the format of the workshop. The following suggestions were given.

. Provide copies of any visual aids used in the workshop (ie. overheads)

. Don't use flipchart, write on overheads (difficult to read the flipchart)

. If a flipchart is used, designated a person other than the presenter to record information on the flipchart

. Start meetings on time

. Limit lunch to one hour

. Number items in any future lists to make referring to a specific item easier

Jon Altenhofen asked if the draft Long List of Alternatives was available in electronic form and requested a copy of it. The draft Long List of Alternatives is available in Excel 97 format and a copy will be E-mailed to Mr. Altenhofen. Mr. Altenhofen will either post it on Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Site or Electronic Mail (E-Mail) it to others.

The meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.