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Platte River Basin Advisory Group
Meeting Record
Cheyenne, WY
October 14, 2003
Welcome
Facilitator Sherri Gregory welcomed the group and the meeting was
called to order at 1:02 p.m. Sherri asked the people in attendance to
introduce themselves, and she reviewed the meeting agenda (attached). A
sign-in sheet was passed around to record attendance.
Planning Team Issues
Briefing Books: Project Manager Jodie Pavlica provided an overview of
the information that will be included in briefing notebooks that will
be provided to the BAG members at the next BAG meeting. The briefing
notebook table of contents, a copy of which is attached to this meeting
record, was projected onto a screen and Jodie briefly discussed its
contents.
Contact Information/BAG Members:
Jodie told the group that
sector and contact information for each of them was posted on the walls
of the meeting room. The BAG members were asked to review the
information and confirm its accuracy sometime before leaving the
meeting.
Meeting Locations/Dates: Jodie
proposed the following
locations and dates, all of which fall on the second Tuesday of the
month, for future BAG meetings:
- Casper December 9, 2003
- Saratoga February 10, 2004
- Torrington April 13, 2004
- Laramie June 8, 2004
- Douglas August 10, 2004
Role of the Basin Advisory Group/Informed Consent
Facilitator Sherri Gregory led a discussion on the role of the BAG and
the informed consent process that will be followed during BAG meetings.
The BAG is an advisory group and is not charged with setting policy.
Informed consent is a course of action whereby the BAG members will
agree on a process and not an outcome. All members’ opinions are valued
and minority opinions are protected. The BAG agrees to work
constructively as a group using a reasonable, sensible, and responsible
approach. Sherri also reminded the group that members might need to
complete some “homework” between meetings in order to effectively serve
on the BAG.
Meeting Ground Rules
Sherri reviewed BAG meeting ground rules, which the BAG had adopted at
the last meeting. The rules were as follows:
- Wait to be recognized by the facilitator,
- No finger pointing or attacks on individuals or groups,
- No long, drawn-out discussions,
- Act as a committed participant,
- No side conversations,
- Adhere to meeting agendas and schedules,
- Consider all points of view,
- Be willing to compromise,
- Prevent cell phones from ringing during meetings,
- State and federal agencies will act as resources, and
- All meetings will be facilitated.
Discussion ensued as to why Robert’s Rules of Order was not
included on
the list of ground rules. Sherri indicated that, because the BAG was an
advisory group and was not charged with setting policy, voting on the
issues that will be brought before the BAG would not take place. For
this reason and because the group had agreed to follow a process of
informed consent, use by the BAG of Robert’s Rules of Order would not
be appropriate.
Some members remained concerned that minority opinions
would not be addressed during the process. Jodie told the group that
the WWDC and their consultant, TriHydro, would respond to all opinions
and will address issues that are presented during BAG meetings. She
also noted that all BAG meetings will be recorded.
Consultant Update
Joel Farber of TriHydro Corporation provided an
overview of consultant activities since the last BAG meeting. Joel
introduced his associate, John Galbreath, and told the group that they
would see more of John throughout the course of TriHydro’s work on the
project.
Joel told the BAG that TriHydro had initiated work on the
first three tasks of the project, as follows:
Basin Water Use Profile: The Wyoming Attorney Generals
Office and State
Engineer had been contacted to request information compiled during
Nebraska v Wyoming. It is anticipated that much of the information
needed for the basin planning study was generated during the litigation
and settlement. Joel cited irrigated acreage mapping, consumptive use
estimates, and water rights attribution as the types of information
requested.
Available Surface and Groundwater Determination: Joel told
the group
that work to compile a base map for the educational tool had been
undertaken. He requested that BAG members provide suggestions on the
type of information they would like to see included in the educational
tool. The WWDC and TriHydro envision the educational tool as a
web-based application that the public could access to learn about the
water resources in the Platte River Basin.
Joel also indicated that work was underway to prepare a
spreadsheet
model for the Upper Laramie River basin. Preliminary work had been
completed to understand how existing spreadsheet models operate and
develop an understanding of the hydrography of the basin. The local
hydrographer, Dan Spranger, had been contacted to identify stream gages
and significant points of diversion. A draft stick diagram of basin
hydrography to be included in the model has been developed.
Demand Projections:
During discussions with the WWDC TriHydro learned
that during one of the previous basin plans, the consulting economist
was involved early in the planning process and that approach had worked
well. Therefore, TriHydro has made arrangements to have Ed Harvey of
Harvey Economics speak to the BAG at its next meeting in Casper. Harvey
Economics is a sub-consultant to TriHydro Corporation, the prime
consultant for preparation of the Platte River Basin Water Plan.
Basin
Advisory Group Membership
Sherri called the role of BAG members that were identified during the
BAG formation meeting in September. She also indicated that some
additional members had been identified subsequent to the September
meeting. Based on the role call, two names were removed from the
roster:
1. Mr. Mel Wilkenfeld (Cheyenne, industrial), was identified to have
declined to participate on the BAG, and 2. Mr. Brady Vollman (Douglas)
could not be reached to accept his nomination.
Four new members were added to the roster:
1. Mr. Gil Engen Laramie Agriculture
2. Mr. Ed Weglin Goshen County Agriculture
3. Mr. Larry Baesler Basin-wide Recreation
4. Mr. Mike Nordeen Basin-wide Industry
Educational Presentations
Sherri requested ideas from the BAG members regarding educational
presentations they would like to see during upcoming meetings. Members
presented the following ideas:
- Overview by the SEO and/or the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office
of
the Settlement Agreement for Nebraska v. Wyoming,
- Managed timber harvest,
- Forest management impacts on stream flows,
- Effect of reservoir management on recreation and wildlife,
- Overview of the Cooperative Agreement and the US Fish &
Wildlife
Draft EIS regarding future North Platte River development,
- BLM’s (Casper) Platte River Resources Management Plan, which is
currently in
preparation,
- Connectivity between surface and groundwater throughout the
basin,
- Wildlife habitat created by current irrigation practices,
- Availability of water in the basin,
- Quantification of irrigation return flows,
- Increasing the water supply,
- Current WWDC projects within the basin,
- Quantification of municipal return flows,
- Update from Wyoming Drought Task Force,
- Selenium problems in the Casper-Alcova area,
- Minimum expected stream flows to protect endangered species, and
- Recreational use in the Gray Reef to Casper reach of the North
Platte
River.
Basin
Advisory Group Mission Statement
Mission statements adopted by BAGs for other river basins were
presented to initiate discussion. Sherri requested that a BAG member
lead group discussion to develop a Platte River BAG mission statement.
During the course of the discussion several BAG members volunteered to
record proposed language on a flip chart. Seven paragraphs of proposed
language were recorded on paper and the group worked to refine a
mission statement that concisely summarized the content of what had
been recorded. Ultimately, the BAG adopted the following Mission
Statement:
To
advise the State of Wyoming in the planning process to inventory the
available supply and historical uses; to develop and enhance the use of
water in the Platte River Basin for the present and the future.
To recognize the existing water
development and protect those rights
and opportunities to develop more water to benefit the future needs of
the basin.
To insure that Wyoming water is put
to beneficial use in
Wyoming, to protect the health of the watersheds and preserve the
opportunity to utilize those waters by municipalities, agriculture,
industry, recreation and wildlife.
The time allotted for the meeting had expired when the Mission
Statement was accepted and Sherri told the BAG that the final item on
the agenda, Issues Identification, would be considered up at its next
meeting. She reminded everyone that the next meeting would be held in
Casper on December 9th and, in response, a BAG member suggested that
the time of the meeting be changed to 10:00 am to 1:00 pm so that
members would be able to drive during daylight hours. The BAG agreed
that the new time suggested for the meeting was a good idea and it was
adopted.
The
next Platte River Basin Advisory Group Meeting is
scheduled for December 9, 2003 at 10:00 am in Casper
The meeting was adjourned shortly after 4:00 pm.
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