Implementing the Endangered Species Act on the Platte Basin Water Commons

Appendix C: Governance Committee

437 A p p e n d i x c Governance Committee From 1997 to the end of 2006, the Governance Committee (GC) was the central locus of negotiations to implement the 1997 Cooperative Agreement, the objective of which was to produce a viable habitat recovery program. The GC was served by four standing advisory committees—a Water Committee, Land Committee , Technical Committee (habitat and species monitoring and peer-review processes), and Finance Committee. GC membership included one voting representative from each of the three states; one voting representative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS); one voting representative from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR); environmental representatives in the three states, who have two votes; North Platte water users in Wyoming and Nebraska above Lake McConaughy party to storage contracts in federal reservoirs (one voting representative); Colorado South Platte water users above Nebraska’s Western Canal headgate (immediately downstream of the state line); and North Platte users (one voting representative); and water users downstream of Kingsley Dam and below the Western Canal headgate and those above Lake McConaughy without federal storage contracts (one voting representative). Votes were rarely conducted. The governors of each state selected their respective representatives and alternates . The secretary of the interior selected representatives and alternates for the USFWS and USBR. Representatives of each of the other constituencies were selected according to protocols devised by those constituencies (see Cooperative Agreement 1997: appendix C). A ppen dix c: G ov er nA n ce c om m it t ee 438 For purposes of voting on any issue, a quorum consisted of member representatives (or alternates) appointed by each governor, representatives appointed by the secretary of the interior, and two other representatives. Nine of the GC members, including those appointed by each governor plus the representative of the USFWS, had to vote in the affirmative for the GC to establish a position on policy issues. Seven of ten votes were needed to establish a position on nonpolicy issues. Policy issues were those that affected “the term, scope, allocation of funding, or continuing viability of the Program” (Cooperative Agreement 1997: appendix C). The structure of the Program Governance Committee, initiated January 1, 2007, has remained essentially the same. There have been modifications in vote sharing, especially among Nebraska downstream water users, but the structure of voting has held constant, as has the nine-positive-votes-out-of-ten rule on policy matters. The non-policy voting provision was dropped. An Independent Science Advisory Committee was added to the list of standing committees (Platte River Recovery Program 2006: attachment 6). ...