Platte recovery plan signed into law

Following a decade old struggle to address Platte River problems with endangered and threatened species, President Bush on Thursday signed into law legislation to implement the federal share of the Platte River recovery implementation plan.

The plan is part of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which was sponsored by Nebraska U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel.

In late 2006 the governors of Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior signed the final program agreement after working together since 1997 to develop a recovery plan that benefits certain species yet allows continued water use and development along the Platte.

The bill authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to proceed with the program and includes $157 million to carry it out.  The cost will be shared 50/50 by the states and federal government.  Through the program the states will provide benefits for the endangered and threatened species as well as land, water, and scientific monitoring and research to evaluate benefits of the program.

Now that the bill has been signed into law, Ron Bishop, manager of the Central Platte Natural Resources District, said the next step is to "start building projects."

"That will open them up to start acquiring the land and water that they need," Bishop said.

Two of the big goals of the recovery plan are to increase flows in the Platte River and create new habitat to benefit the four endangered and threatened species the program is designed to protect.

The species are the endangered interior least tern, whooping crane, pallid sturgeon and the threatened piping plover.

The plan proposes to acquire 10,000 acres of new habitat. The proposed area is between Lexington and Chapman, which is within the Central Platte NRD.

Bishop said once that land is acquired, the project will still pay property taxes on the land to lessen the impact on local governments and school districts.

The plan also proposes to acquire between 130,000 to 150,000 acre feet of water.

Bishop said they have already lined up 80,000 acre feet of water, which will be needed to accomplish the goal of increasing river flows to benefit the threatened and endangered species.

He said acquiring the bulk of the remaining water needed for the project will be accomplished with water action plans, such as capturing needed future flows during times of high water flows and store it for when flows are low, such as storing water in the Dawson County canal in the off-season.

Bishop said the project may also have to purchase water rights from individuals to meet their goals, similar to the Central Platte NRD's water banking program, where they purchase water rights to offset required water needs within the district.

Nelson said water use has always been a perennial concern in the West and the Platte River Basin.

"This bill ensures that this will occur, while also respecting the habitat of the threatened and endangered species of the area," Nelson said. "This program has been in the making for some time now and I am pleased that it is now law."

Hagel said the legislation is important in efforts to "responsibly balance necessary water use in the Platte River Basin while improving habitats for four threatened and endangered species."

"The governors of Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado, the U.S. Department of the Interior and local stakeholders have all worked together to craft and implement this cooperative agreement," Hagel said. "This is good news."