page_title: Platte River
section_title: Management and policy
hierarchical_section_title: Platte River / Management and policy
caption_attribution_description: Great Blue Heron and immature Bald eagle on the Platte River, Nebraska
context_page_description: The Platte River is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about 310 mi long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over 1,050 miles. The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Platte over most of its length is a broad, shallow, meandering stream with a sandy bottom and many islands—a braided stream.
  The Platte is one of the most significant tributary systems in the watershed of the Missouri, draining a large portion of the central Great Plains in Nebraska and the eastern Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming. The river valley played an important role in the westward expansion of the United States, providing the route for several major emigrant trails, including the Oregon, California, Mormon and Bozeman trails. The first Europeans to see the Platte were French explorers and fur trappers about 1714; they first called it the Nebraskier, a transliteration of the name given by the Otoe people, meaning "flat water". This expression is very close to the French words "rivière plate", the probable origin of the name Platte River.
context_section_description: The Platte River flowing through an arid part of the mid-west has been widely overused. The claims on the Platte River water have exceeded the supply of water in drier years. The criteria for water over-appropriation, according to the final reading of LB 962, is that if the river basin, sub basin, or reach is subject to an interstate cooperative agreement among three or more states and if, prior to such date, the department has declared a moratorium on the issuance of new surface water appropriations in such river basin, sub basin or reach and has requested each natural resource district with jurisdiction in the affected area in such river basin, sub basin or reach either to close or to continue in effect a previously adopted closure of all or part of such river basin, sub basin, or reach to the issuance of additional water well permits in accordance with subdivision. Most of the Platte River basin is currently considered as overappropriated.
  Beginning in 2004, a number of Nebraska stakeholders embarked upon the Platte River Cooperative Hydrology Study (COHYST). Conducted with assistance from the United States Geological Survey and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, this study attempts to arrive at a better understanding of the geology and hydrology of the Platte River basin from the Colorado and Wyoming borders to Columbus, including the Loup basin.  This improved understanding could be used to develop policies for management of the river system, both for human use and for the sake of the basin's endangered species.  As of October 2009, the study is still ongoing.
caption: A great blue heron and immature bald eagle on the Platte River in Nebraska
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