CHEYENNE - The state's decision to enter an agreement with Colorado and Nebraska over Platte River Basin water will almost certainly result in litigation, the spokesman for a Wyoming water users group said.

Joe Glode, president of the Upper North Platte Water Users Association, said the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program offers no assurances that his members' water rights will be protected.

The agreement, which is not yet final, requires Wyoming to guarantee 34,000 acre feet of space in Pathfinder Reservoir for downstream wildlife habitat in Nebraska. It allocates another 20,000 acre feet of space for discretionary use in Wyoming.

Nebraska and Colorado also are contributing water and money to enhance habitat for the whooping crane, piping plover, least tern and pallid sturgeon in Nebraska.

Glode is concerned that the water users he represents upstream from Pathfinder Reservoir will lose out in dry years because they have no place to store water.

"You've created two new water rights in the state of Wyoming for which there's no additional water," said Glode, who lives in Saratoga.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who signed the agreement, said the state has done everything in its power to assure that the upstream water rights will be honored. The state attorney general and the state engineer both have issued statements intended to sooth the groups' concerns.

But Freudenthal said he also had to consider the potential harm caused by rejecting the agreement, including the possibility of intense federal scrutiny on all activity in the Platte River Basin under the Endangered Species Act.

"I believe my choice is clear," Freudenthal said in a statement released Monday afternoon.

"It's not everything we'd hoped for, but it's probably the best alternative, all things considered," added Deputy State Engineer Harry LaBonde.

Ten years in the making, the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program allows Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska to work together to mitigate impacts on the protected species instead of individually with the government.

Through years of legal wrangling, representatives of the states and the federal government created a plan intended to protect the animals while looking out for water users. The deal still requires tens of thousands of dollars from Congress to become final.

The Platte's two branches start in the Colorado mountains, flow through Wyoming and Colorado, and merge in Nebraska. With its 15 major dams and reservoirs, the river supplies water to about 3.5 million people, irrigates farms, generates electricity through hydropower plants and provides recreation and wildlife habitat.

The Platte River in central Nebraska also is a major stop for migrating whooping cranes and home to the piping plover, least tern and pallid sturgeon. They're all considered threatened or endangered species.

Biologists estimate that whooping cranes numbered from 500 to 1,300 in the area in the mid-1800s, plummeted to fewer than 20 in the 1940s and rebounded to 215 by last year.

By releasing additional water into the river system, scientists hope to recreate ideal habitat for all four species. Intensive testing will be needed to determine if the efforts work.

In the meantime, irrigators in Wyoming appear poised to fight for their water in court. Glode said the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program lacks concrete assurances that the rights of upstream water users will be protected.

"It's not clearly spelled out," he said.

Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.