Final Minutes
Water Action Plan Committee Meeting
USFWS Office
Lakewood CO
The Water Action Plan Committee (WAPC) meeting began at 10:00 a.m. in Lakewood, Colorado. The minutes of the November 17, 1999, WAPC meeting were approved as revised.
The states presented and discussed with the WAPC their lists of potential projects for inclusion in a draft Water Action Plan. The potential lists of projects prepared by the states identified several principles and conditions that need to be satisfied prior to implementation of any of the projects.
The State of Nebraska identified potential projects including a reregulating reservoir on the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (Central) system; water right leasing; water management incentives; management of the ground water mound; ground water recharge, power interference, and "net controllable conserved water" (yield not quantified). The combined potential yield was approximately 41,000 acre-feet (exclusive of "net controllable conserved water") average annual net reduction to target flow shortages, of which only 20,500 acre-feet may be available to the Platte River Implementation Recovery Program (Program). Nebraska reserves the right to use a portion of the 41,000 acre-feet to offset new depletions in Nebraska. The preliminary nature of Nebraska's list of potential projects was emphasized and is subject to change over time.
The State of Wyoming identified potential projects including the use of the remaining firm yield of the municipal account in the proposed Pathfinder Modification as an environmental release, until such time it is fully developed to meet municipal needs; the use of a portion of Wyoming's uncontracted Glendo storage space; and water leasing (yield not quantified). The combined potential average annual yield was approximately 20,300 acre-feet (exclusive of leasing) at the Wyoming/Nebraska State Line, of which only 7,450 acre-feet may be available to the Program. Wyoming also identified using a portion of the 20,300 acre-feet to offset future depletions and meet muncipal demands.
The State of Colorado identified an enlarged Tamarack Project (also referred to as Tamarack Phase 3) as their potential project. Colorado is currently involved in a modeling effort to estimate the potential yield of the Tamarack Phase 3 Project. Colorado indicated the total yield associated with the Tamarack Phase 3 Project will be available to the Program and emphasized the yield would be sustainable over time. Colorado does not consider leasing as a feasible alternative.
Dan Luecke presented and discussed with the WAPC his proposed Water Action Plan that reduces shortages by approximately 70,600 acre-feet on an average annual basis: 40,000 acre-feet from Nebraska; 13,600 acre-feet from Wyoming; and 17,000 acre-feet from Colorado. Mr. Luecke relied on information contained in the states' lists and information from the Boyle Report as summarized in Heather Thompson's memorandum of September 16, 1999 (Table 2). Mr. Luecke's proposed plan includes the use of a trust fund (contingency fund) of $8 million that would be used to provide funding for additional water needs and is expected to provide for approximately 10,000 acre-feet of additional water. Mr. Luecke estimated the cost of his proposed plan to be roughly $35 million without the trust fund.
After a lunch break from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m., the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) Manager, Curt Brown, discussed with a WAPC the basic level of detail required to support analysis of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and EIS impacts and benefits. The basic information needed for a proposed project includes:
1) location of the project;
2) basic operating concept;
3) on site diversions, yield and timing;
4) legal and institutional requirements for implementation;
5) schedule for implementation;
6) expected project life; and
7) capital and operation costs.
The EIS Manager also reviewed with the WAPC examples illustrating the level of detail needed for items 1 through 3 above. Similar information will be needed to be included in the Water Action Plan that will be analyzed by the EIS Team.
There was agreement that Mr. Luecke's proposal and the reconnaissance level information in the Boyle Report would serve as a starting point to begin the process of formulating a draft Water Action Plan. Reservations were expressed with regard to the reconnaissance nature of the yield and cost estimates. The WAPC discussed the level of detail associated with the cost estimates. Three levels of details were identified as:
• Reconnaissance - needed for the Programmatic EIS;
• Feasibility - needed to present projects to the public; and
• Implementation - needed for construction of a project.
By consensus, the WAPC agreed to proceed with the development of a draft Water Action Plan using a staged/parallel approach that would use reconnaissance information for the Programmatic EIS, while continuing to develop more detailed information for the projects for implementation. Boyle Engineering, under their existing contract to assist in the development of the Water Action Plan, was asked to prepare a document summarizing the principles needed for the Water Action Plan development. In addition, Boyle Engineering will gather information to meet the seven (7) informational items above for the projects listed in Mr. Luecke's proposal. Boyle will identify what is known for each project, what additional information is needed, and where/how to get the additional information. WAPC members were asked to provide written narratives regarding principles for inclusion in the principle document that will be prepared by Boyle. These narratives are to be provided to the WAPC Chair by January 7, 2000. Blaine Dwyer of Boyle Engineering indicated he would prepare a description of the requested work and provide it to the WAPC Chair for review under Boyle's existing contract.
The EIS Team was also asked to take the projects listed in Mr. Luecke's proposal and begin doing some preliminary incremental yield analyses for combinations of the projects using the modeling tools available. The EIS Team will work with Boyle Engineering as needed to better understand and model the alternatives from the Boyle Report. It was noted the projects on the list with their respective yield estimates are not being adopted, but serve as a reasonable starting point for formulation of a draft Water Action Plan. The WAPC members can provide other projects as additional and/or replacements as the formulation of the draft Water Action Plan continues.
The Outreach Committee approached the WAPC regarding the development of outreach information describing the process and status of the developing a Water Action Plan. The Outreach Committee was directed not to prepare outreach information regarding the Water Action Plan. The WAPC will revisit the potential of preparing outreach information for the Water Action Plan at its January meeting.
Future meetings for the WAPC will be held January 20, 2000, and February 23, 2000. The January 20 meeting will be held in North Platte, Nebraska, at the Quality Inn from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The February 23 meeting will be held in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at the Laramie County Community College (Room 129) from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
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