Platte River Basin, Wyoming: Cooperative River Basin Study, Main Report

Excerpts from the report: The Platte River Basin in Wyoming includes the drainage areas of the North Platte, South Platte and Niobrara Rivers. The Basin area is approximately 24,664 square miles and extends 150 miles northward from the Wyoming-Colorado State line and 260 miles westward from the Wyoming-Nebraska State line. Of the total area, 22,074 square miles are in the North Platte drainage, 2,053 in the South Platte drainage, and 537 square miles in the Niobrara River Drainage. All of Laramie, Goshen, Platte, and Albany counties, most of Carbon county, substantial parts of Natrona, Fremont, Converse, and Niobrara counties and small parts of Sweetwater and Sublette counties are in the study area. Mainstem reservoirs include Guernsey, Glendo, Alcova, Pathfinder, and Seminoe. The study addresses the concern of conserving, developing and allocating water and related land resources among alternative uses. The objectives in planning for the use of water and related land resources are to reflect society's preference for National Economic Development (NED) and Environmental Quality (EQ). The study was conducted under the multiobjective planning concept. It provides information which can be used to develop programs to meet local water needs; enhance agricultural development of the area; promote the conservation, utilization, and management of water and related land resources; and enhance environmental quality. The problems and concerns were analyzed in an alternative future framework. An alternative future is a set of assumptions about the future use of natural resources in the Basin. These are structured to show the effects of the assumption over three time intervals of 1985, 2000, and 2020.