PROJECT INFORMATION:
Deer Creek is a tributary of the North Platte River. Its drainage basin
lies in central Wyoming south of the Town of Glenrock. The proposed
Deer Creek Dam and Reservoir is located in the Laramie Range and is
situated at the north end of lower Deer Creek Canyon. Access to the dam
site is approximately 23 miles from Casper via the Hat Six Road.
The project includes the 280-foot high dam, spillway, outlet works,
access roads, gaging stations, power supply facilities, utility and road
relocations, remote sensing and control features, embankment instrumentation,
a boat ramp, and appurtenances. The reservoir will have
a capacity of 65,785 acre feet. The primary purpose of the project is
to meet the present and future municipal water needs of such communities
as Casper, Mills, Wardwell, Evansville, Glenrock, Douglas and possibly
others. The project is permitted to provide an annual yield of 9,600
acre-feet. The reservoir will provide flood benefits to the Town of
Glenrock and along Deer Creek. The project will result in substantial
recreation benefits from the reservoir and Deer Creek below the
reservoir. The facility will be designed to allow future retrofitting
for hydropower generation facilities.
In October, 1986, the State of Nebraska reopened the 1945 North Platte
River Decree in the U.S. Supreme Court. Nebraska's petition alleges
among other things that the proposed construction of storage capacity on
certain tributaries of the North Platte River violates the decree. The
Deer Creek project is located on one such tributary. Wyoming has
aggressively responded.
In June, 1988, Nebraska's Director of the Department of Water Resources
filed another suit concerning the Deer Creek project. The Complaint
alleges violations of environmental and administrative laws and regulations
against representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over issuance of the 404 permit and
biological opinion. Wyoming was not named as a defendant. Upon motion
of the federal defendants, the court ordered the case stayed until
resolution of issues related to the Deer Creek project in the Supreme
Court action.
For the past two years, negotiations have been underway to settle the
lawsuit and resolve endangered species issues in the Platte River Basin
which have impacted water management and development in the basin for
the past twenty years. During the discussions pertaining to endangered
species, a concept originated by the Goshen Irrigation District has been
discussed.
The concept involves the Pathfinder Enlargement which would increase the
height of Pathfinder Dam by 2.37 feet to recapture 54,000 acre feet of
storage space lost to sediment. Twenty thousand (20,000) acre feet of
the recaptured space would be allocated to achieve the same municipal
water supply benefits as the Deer Creek Dam. The remaining 34,000 acre
feet of storage space would serve the federal water contractors in
Wyoming and Nebraska and other Wyoming water users by resolving the
outstanding Section 7 consultation on the federal reservoirs and pending
Section 7 consultations of special use permits on forest lands. The
storage space would be allocated as a water supply component to resolve
endangered species issues in the North Platte Basin through the Platte
River Basin Endangered Species Recovery Implementation Program. While
the parameters of the program are still being negotiated, Wyoming's goal
in participating in the program is to achieve regulatory certainty on
issues relating to the recovery of the whooping crane, piping plover,
least tern, bald eagle and recovery of the federally designated critical
habitat in the Central Platte River.
In order to alleviate the impacts of recapturing the 54,000 acre feet
and to compensate for the municipal storage account, project funds would
be used to pay federal contractor's share of upcoming safety of dams
modifications on the federal dams in Wyoming and to resolve the selenium
problems at Goose and Rasmus Lee Lakes within the Kendrick Project, as
well as pay for the modifications at Pathfinder Dam necessary to
recapture the 54,000 acre feet of storage. While the recaptured space
would enjoy the benefits of the 1904 storage right, provisions would be
provided to insure that the recaptured space could not place a call on
existing non-federal direct flow and storage rights above Pathfinder
Reservoir.
In order for the Pathfinder Enlargement to be implemented, the following
institutional issues must be resolved:
- The Department of Interior must approve the concept and agree to
provide the regulatory certainty desired by the state and the water
users.
- The Governor must approve the project.
- The Legislature must authorize the use of the Deer Creek funds to
participate in the safety of dam modifications, the selenium issues on
the Kendrick Project, and enlargement of Pathfinder Dam.
- Formal agreements must be negotiated with the Bureau of
Reclamation, the affected federal water contractors, and the municipal
water users.
- The Board of Control must approve a change of use for the
recaptured storage space in Pathfinder Reservoir. The State Engineer
and Legislature must approve the interstate water right to allow water
in the 34,000 acre foot environmental account to be delivered to
Nebraska for endangered species purposes.
- Congressional authorization would be required to amend the
original purpose of the Pathfinder Dam to include municipal and
environmental uses.
- NEPA and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act clearances must be
achieved.
It is obvious that in order to achieve the above institutional
approvals, there must be broad based public support for the project.
RECOMMENDED LEGISLATIVE ACTION:
Due to the ongoing litigation, the construction of the Deer Creek Dam
will be delayed another three to four years. At the same time, other
projects, in particular the Greybull Valley Dam, are at a status that
requires construction funding. Therefore the WWDC recommneds that the
project appropriation be reduced from $45,000,000 to $15,000,000 or
$30,000,000. This recommendation is based on funding management and
should not be interpreted as a lack of support for the Deer Creek Dam
and Reservoir. The WWDC remains committed to securing the water supply
needed by the City of Casper and other North Platte communities in the
area. This commitment is documented by the fact that the funding
authorization for the Deer Creek Dam is proposed to remain at
$45,000,000. In addition, the Commission is seeking authorization to
use $1,000,000 of the project appropriation to evaluate the Pathfinder
Enlargement, subject to the approval of the Governor and Select Water
Committee.