SUMMARY, FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT, NORTH LOUP DIVISION, PICKSLOAN MISSOURI BASIN PROGRAM, NEBRASKA; PREPARED BY DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, REGION 7

1. Administrative Action () Legislative Action (X)

2. The North Loup Division consists of storage and diversion works on the Calamus and North Loup Rivers and on a tributary of Davis Creek in central Nebraska.

3. Summary of environmental impact:

a. Increased economic activity totaling $36 million annually within Nebraska.

b. Enhancement of the economic and social environment of this rural area would discourage the out migration of people to large urban centers.

c. Approximately 6,300 acres of water surface area would provide fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities.

d. The reservoir would inundate 13 miles of stream fishery and approximately 6,300 acres of land including the associated terrestrial wildlife habitat.

e. Downstream flows would be reduced.

4. List of alternatives considered:

a. Nondevelopment

5. List of agencies from which comments have been requested:

Department of the Interior

a. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife

b. Bureau of Outdoor Recreation

6. Draft statement was sent to the Council on Environmental Quality July 12, 1971.

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT ON PROPOSED NORTH LOUP DIVISION, PICK-SLOAN MISSOURI BASIN PROGRAM, NEBRASKA, PURSUANT TO SECTION 102(2)(C) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969

SUMMARY OF EFFECTS ON HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

The proposed North Loup Division was planned cooperatively by the Bureau of Reclamation with other Federal and State agencies and local organizations having an interest in the ecological systems and water and related land resources. The development would enhance the quality of the human environment by providing the impetus for important social and economic benefits through irrigation service to some 52,600 acres of land, facilities to serve an expected 50,000 visitor-days of public outdoor recreation use annually, and management of fish and wildlife resources to provide an additional estimated 19,070 days of public hunter and fisherman use annually. It is estimated that the proposed irrigation development would create annually $36 million in new business activity in Nebraska. Significant employment opportunities would accrue from the proposed development to local labor resources which have substantial economic underemployment.

There would be some adverse effects on the environment from the proposed development. Natural flows of the North Loup and Calamus Rivers would not be diverted for Division needs during the critical summer months to minimize the adverse environmental impact on the North Loup and Loup Rivers principally. There would be some increase in the concentration of dissolved solids of the flows of the North Loup, Loup, and Platte Rivers during summer months from irrigation return flows. Land use changes associated with converting 52,600 acres of land, now essentially all cropland, to irrigated agricultural production may reduce wildlife habitat.

NATURE OF THE ACTIVITY

The North Loup Division would be a multiple-purpose water and related land resources development situated in the Loup River basin in central Nebraska serving the functions of irrigation, recreation, and fish and wildlife. The principal features would include Calamus Dam and Reservoir to be constructed on

the Calamus River to store and divert water. Kent Diversion Works would be constructed on the North Loup River to divert water into the system for direct use or for storage in Davis Creek Reservoir. Davis Creek Dam and Reservoir, to be located on a tributary of Davis Creek, would serve as a storage and reregulating feature. Regulated irrigation releases would be made to five principal canals totaling 62 miles in length, one major and nine small pumping plants, and 212 miles of lateral systems to supply irrigation water to 52,600 acres of land. Recreation enhancement facilities are included but no features for fish and wildlife enhancement are recommended. Trees and shrubs would be planted on 150 acres of acquired land adjacent to the reservoirs to replace wildlife habitat lost by inundation and to maintain hunting opportunities and aesthetic values.

The North Loup Division operating criteria provide for passing all natural flows of the North Loup and Calamus Rivers during July and August every year and during September when storage water is available to meet Division needs. These criteria reduce the impact of the Division on the environment by diverting the necessary water during the least critical periods.

The feasibility report of the Secretary of the Interior on the North Loup Division (H. Doc. 87-491) recommending authorization for construction was transmitted to the Congress in July 1962. Although this was prior to enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the policies, goals, and directives of the act have been met through provisions of law and Presidential instructions for coordination of planning studies and reports on Federal water and related land resources projects. This systematic, interdisciplinary approach was also used in the reanalysis of the Division presented in the Reevaluation Statement, February 1971.

IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The multiple-purpose North Loup Division would improve the social and economic environment of the region through the development, management, and use of affected water and related land resources.

Stabilized and increased agricultural production from the irrigation of 52,600 acres of cropland would provide the impetus for important social and economic opportunities. A study developed by the University of Nebraska indicates $6.68 of economic activity occurs within the State of Nebraska for each dollar of increased value attributable to irrigated crop production. Applying the results of this study to the North Loup Division shows that the irrigation development would cause an annual impact of $36 million to Nebraska business. This important economic impact would accrue both on the farm and to the business sector across Nebraska.

Economic underemployment of the civilian labor force averaged 46 percent in 1960 for the six-county area encompassing the North Loup Division. The chronic problem of underemployment within the area is reflected by a steady population decline from 36,300 in 1940 to 24,500 in 1970. The construction and operation and maintenance of the North Loup Division would provide local employment opportunities for unskilled and semiskilled labor. In addition, there would be a substantial increase in demand for hired farm labor. By enhancing the quality of the economic and social environment of a rural area, development of North Loup Division would help achieve the national objectives of full employment and population dispersal.

Calamus and Davis Creek Reservoirs would have total storage capacities of 128,200 acre-feet and 32,500 acre-feet and up to 5,150 acres and 1,145 acres of water surface, respectively. Water-oriented outdoor recreation opportunities would be provided through the installation of facilities recommended by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation at the reservoirs. These facilities would include interior roads, parking and picnic areas, sanitary facilities, and boat ramps. It is estimated that there will be 50,000 recreation visitations annually.

Calamus Reservoir would provide reservoir fishery in lieu of about 13 miles of stream fishery. Davis Creek Reservoir would create a minor fishery in Davis Creek, an intermittent stream which now produces no fishing. The proposed development would increase fisherman use by an estimated 18,900 man-days annually. In addition to the water surface areas, 3,750 acres of acquired lands at Calamus Reservoir and 2,510 acres at Davis Creek Reservoir would provide

opportunities for wildlife habitat development and management and public hunting. Both reservoirs will provide habitat, mainly resting for migratory waterfowl, and would increase waterfowl hunting an estimated 340 man-days per year. In the interest of maintaining a variety of hunting opportunities and aesthetic wildlife values, habitat losses would be replaced by planting 150 acres of suitable trees and shrubs on the reservoir lands as recommended by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. The one unique wildlife feature of this area, a cottonwood grove with a substantial heron rookery, would be protected and preserved.

ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Construction and operation of the North Loup Division would have certain adverse environmental impacts.

The plan of development recommended for the North Loup Division in the Reevaluation Statement, February 1971, has been modified from that presented in the feasibility report of the Secretary of the Interior which was transmitted to the Congress in 1962 to provide that the natural flows of the North Loup and Calamus Rivers will not be diverted for Division purposes during July and August and during September when storage water is available to meet Division needs. Eliminating or reducing the withdrawals of the natural flows during this critical period will reduce the adverse impact downstream on the flows of the Calamus, North Loup, and Loup Rivers, and the ecosystems associated therewith, and will contribute significantly to maintaining the quality of the present environment. The cost of the additional facilities required for the modified plan adversely affects the economic justification of the proposed development.

The proposed development would result in some increase in the dissolved solids in the North Loup, Loup, and Platte Rivers during summer months from irrigation return flows. The resultant water quality would be within the criteria specified in the Water Quality Standards adopted by the State of Nebraska and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. As suggested by the Water Quality Office, Environmental Protection Agency (formerly Federal Water Quality Administration), consideration will be given during advance planning to further modification of the operations plan to make additional water available in the month of September in the interest of water quality control.

At conservation capacity, the two reservoirs will inundate 13 miles of the Calamus River and 6,295 acres of land including the associated terrestrial wildlife habitat. The 150 acres of valuable wooded habitat would be replaced as a project mitigation measure. The effects of Calamus and Davis Creek Reservoirs will be a loss of 750 man-days of stream fishing, 170 man-days of deer and upland-game hunting and a reduction in fur-animal harvest of 35 pelts annually. Land use changes that would result from the irrigation of 52,600 acres of cropland may have an adverse effect on wildlife habitat and populations although this is not indicated or established in the Reevaluation Report of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife on the North Loup Division.

No significantly unique resource or natural aesthetic conditions would be adversely affected by the proposal as the existing natural conditions of the Division are prevalent throughout the region.

A potential for adverse effects such as increased mosquito population, increased sediment production to streams, increased stream pollution from animal feedlots, and pesticide pollution exists in irrigated areas. Such adverse effects can be prevented by proper development and management practices.

Provisions have been included in the estimate of construction costs for seeding and mulching where necessary to assure revegetation of all areas bared by project construction.

ALTERNATIVES TO PROPOSED ACTION

Any alternative development would either forgo the economic and social benefits to be derived from the proposal or would transpose these benefits to another area. There are no alternative means of utilizing the land and water resources which would provide equivalent economic, social, and environmental benefits at comparable costs. The practical alternatives are limited to variations in the design and location of the physical works required. Leaving the water and the related land resources in their present state is not a viable

alternative as this would forgo extensive benefits and constitute the continuation of an inefficient use of natural and human resources.

Numerous alternatives were studied initially in the process of formulating the plan of development recommended for the North Loup Division. These alternatives included various reservoir sites, other facility locations, methods of irrigation service and lands to be irrigated. Selection of the plan of development recommended in the Secretary of the Interior's feasibility report which was transmitted to the Congress in July 1962 was based largely on engineering and economic considerations and represents the most likely alternative to the plan presented in the February 1971 Reevaluation Statement. The feasibility report plan, which did not limit withdrawals of water for irrigation during the critical summer months, would reduce the estimated construction costs of the Division by $5.6 million.

RELATIONSHIP OF SHORT-TERM USES VERSUS LONG-TERM NEEDS

The human and natural resources of the area are utilized predominantly in an agricultural economy. The fishery and wildlife resources are influenced by this association. This relationship is not expected to change materially in the future, either with or without the proposed development. Therefore, common relationship exists between local short-term use of these resourcs and the need to maintain and enhance the long-term productivity of the environment to satisfy human needs.

IRREVERSIBLE COMMITMENT OF RESOURCES

The proposed North Loup Division would utilize an average of 64,600 acrefeet of the flow of the Calamus River and 72,000 acre-feet of the flow of the North Loup River annually to irrigate 52,600 acres of land for the useful life of the development, which is considered to be 100 years for the purpose of feasibility evaluation. Such commitment of these water and land resources would not be irreversible or irretrievable should uses having a higher value to fulfill human needs arise at some future time.

A total of 6,295 acres of land and 13 miles of the Calamus River and the ecosystems associated therewith would be inundated by the proposed Calamus and Davis Creek Reservoirs.

The commitment of labor and part of the materials required to construct the works would be irreversible and irretrievable.

Mr. JOHNSON. At this time I will recognize the chairman of our full committee, the Honorable Wayne Aspinall from the State of Colorado, who did not have an opportunity to be in Nebraska when the field hearings were held due to other business that he had to attend to. I am sure that he has read the hearing record and is very well versed on the North Loup Project.

The gentleman from Colorado.

Mr. ASPINALL. Mr. Chairman, I am sorry that I was not present. I have been looking forward to the hearings on this project and the one we had yesterday for some time. am glad they are before us. I wish to thank you.

I again commend my colleague, Congressman Dave Martin, for his continuing constructive efforts in getting these projects before this committee so we can get them before the House.

Dave has been very patient but he has been very persistent, and this, of course, is always a good attribute of a Member of Congress. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. JOHNSON. Any other comments? The gentleman from Oklahoma ?

Mr. CAMP. I have no comments.

Mr. JOHNSON. The gentleman from New Mexico?

Mr. LUJAN. No comments, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. JOHNSON. Our first witness this morning will be the Honorable Dave Martin, a Congressman from the State of Nebraska a long-time advocate of this particular project as well as the one that was before us yesterday.

Dave, I want to thank you for the courtesies shown us when we visited Nebraska in 1970. We had a good opportunity to look over the North Loup project. The local witnesses that appeared before us at that time gave us their sentiments as far as the project was concerned. I know that you over the past year and a half have been very active in getting to this hearing. We first had to have a favorable report from Interior along with the blessing of the Office of Management and Budget. That has been secured. This is now a matter of record. We are now ready to hear from you as the Representative from the State of Nebraska, the author of the bill that is before us. STATEMENT OF HON. DAVE MARTIN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA

Mr. MARTIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you state, it has been a long road but we have tried to persist in this matter and finally did get approval from the Bureau of the Budget and Reclamation.

First of all, I would would like to ask unanimous consent to insert in the record statements by both Senators Curtis and Hruska from Nebraska that I have here.

Mr. JOHNSON. Their statements will appear in the record following your statement here today.

Mr. MARTIN. Thank you.

Mr. JOHNSON. Is there objection? Hearing none, so ordered.

Mr. MARTIN. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Reclamation Subcommittee, I want to thank the chairman for the courtesy extended in taking time to hold hearings on the Twin Loups reclamation and irrigation project. This project was originally authorized as an integral part of the Missouri River project by the Flood Control Acts of 1944 and 1946, but reauthorization is required by provisions of the 1956 act.

The project would be a multipurpose water resources development in the basins of the Calamus, North Loup, and Loup Rivers in central Nebraska to provide benefits from irrigation, outdoor recreation, and fish and wildlife enhancement.

The citizens in this district have been working for the past 30 years to make this project a reality. The support, as witnessed in the field hearings a year and a half ago, to which the chairman alluded, is testimony to this.

The project consists of the Calamus Reservoir, which would store 128,200 acre-feet of water, and the off-channel Davis Creek Dam and Reservoir, which would store 32,500 acre-feet. Irrigation water provided by these facilities would be distributed to 52,570 acres. The total estimated project cost based on October 1970, price levels is $73,007,000. Total evaluated benefits on the basis of a 100-year period is 1.33 to 1. Using only direct benefits, the ratio would be 1.10 to 1.

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