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LB701 is good foundation to solve state's water issues
Last year, the Republican River Basin natural resources districts (NRDs) were asked to put together a solution to the water issues facing our part of the state. We were told we had to address three issues: 1) Financial contributions from our local citizens must be included; 2) The plan must be comprehensive and address everyone's concerns; and, 3) The plan must address both short- and long-term compliance with the three-state water compact with Kansas. LB 701, recently passed out of the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee and sent to the Floor for debate, addresses all three of those key points.
Money will be one component of both the short- and long-term solutions. The NRDs have been working with Nebraska's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to develop management activities and determine their costs. The NRDs have contributed to nearly every program developed in the past few years including EQIP and surface water leasing, and NRD local budgets are a majority of the state match for the CREP program. Republican Basin NRDs stopped irrigated development and enacted the first suspension in well drilling in the state. Based on the State's recommendations, we were the first to adopt Integrated Management Plans on water use.
Republican River farmers have already made a significant contribution toward dealing with this problem through the impact of NRD regulations. Drastic reductions in irrigation will have more than a significant impact on the producer and will have a devastating economic impact on the entire region. And all Nebraskans should know this fact: Shutting down every irrigator in the Republican Basin will not maintain Nebraska's compliance with Kansas. That is why other options must be considered.
Taxpayers from across Nebraska must be aware of the State's role in helping solve this problem. The State enjoys many economic benefits from agricultural activity in the Republican Basin. A combination of state and local funds is needed to make our programs work. LB 701 gives only the Republican NRDs the ability to increase their property tax levy and/or charge a ten-dollar fee on irrigated farm land, and the ability to issue revenue bonds to buy available surface water that can be delivered to Kansas to maintain Nebraska's compliance with the compact agreement. Some of these local funding concepts, however, would not be available this year. State funds are needed until new local funding mechanisms can be established and we support Governor Heineman's recommendation to establish the Water Cash Fund, which is also a part of LB 701. We are in a position where we can wait no longer and must start taking action now.
Other parts of LB 701 include riparian management and removal of channel vegetation, projects that could be implemented in a very short time frame if funding were available.
The importance of maintaining local control throughout this process cannot be emphasized enough. As we continue working with DNR, it is important that our deliberations are based on sound, reliable information and studies, and that the local decision making process is used to bring these concepts to the producers. Because the basin is over 200 miles long, the most effective control in the western parts of the Basin may be different than the most effective control in the eastern parts. The goal of our current Integrated Management Plan is for each district to assume its share of the responsibility for compact compliance. The State of Nebraska helped draft the plan, and approved it as well. LB 701, as amended, gives the local NRDs the ability to consult with the DNR on their forecasted water use allocations. This allows the NRDs and local producers to have confidence that a proper review has taken place and the best decisions are being made.
Until recently, the State of Nebraska had limited the NRD's authority to be pro-active in addressing Nebraska's relationship between ground water and surface water. This has helped lead us into the situation we now face. We now have a better idea of our problems and LB 701 provides the solutions necessary to solve them. LB 701 comprehensively provides short-term solutions to our water challenges, while providing a foundation upon which to build our long-term policies to keep Nebraska in compliance in future years.