Summary: A draft integrated letter report and programmatic environmental assessment has been developed to determine the economic and environmental impacts of Federal participation in state-managed watercraft inspection programs along the South Platte River Basin in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The existing watercraft inspection programs are managed collaboratively by the States of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, where watercraft transported along highways are inspected for the presence of aquatic invasive species and decontaminated when detected.
If approved, Federal participation in the program would be cost-shared (50 percent) with each of the States and would employ a regional strategy to identify locations that would provide the greatest likelihood of preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species to reservoirs operated and maintained by the Corps in the South Platte River Basin.
Several strategies that could be used include (1) expanding the number of locations or hours of operation at existing inspection stations, (2) adding canine detection capabilities, (3) increasing public awareness, (4) constructing site improvements and (5) augmenting existing monitoring efforts and contingency and response planning efforts.
Geographic Scope: Southern Platte River Basin (Denver, CO; Fort Collins, CO; Cheyenne, WY; North Platte, NE; Lincoln, NE; Omaha, NE)
Decision: Made following close of comment period.