[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 71 (Thursday, May 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONSOLIDATED NATURAL RESOURCES ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ADRIAN SMITH

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 29, 2008

  Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the House of 
Representatives for taking action on the Platte River Recovery 
Implementation Program today.
  The Platte River has undergone extensive development for irrigation, 
power generation, and municipal water uses. The river system today 
contains 15 major dams and reservoirs and provides water for about 3.5 
million people.
  Existing facilities on the river provide hydroelectric power, 
irrigation water, flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife 
habitat. Substantial portions of the economies of the Platte River 
basin States--Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska--are based on water 
supplied by the Platte River.
  In 1997, the three States and the U.S. Department of the Interior 
signed an agreement to pursue a basinwide cooperative recovery 
implementation program to improve and maintain habitat for four 
threatened and endangered species which use the Platte River.
  The legislation we are discussing today is designed to implement a 
multi-state cooperative approach to assist in the conservation and 
recovery of habitat for the Platte River's endangered and threatened 
species and to help prevent the need to list more species under the 
Endangered Species Act. The bill would also provide regulatory 
certainty to the cities and industries which rely on flows of the 
river.
  As we move forward with the implementation of the program, positive 
and negative economic impacts must be assessed and considered in order 
to minimize adverse effects of the recovery efforts.
  This legislation is the first step of many to protect and recover 
species and provide long-term water use for our communities.

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