Residents speak out against new NRD water taxes

McCook Daily Gazette

Several spoke out against the additional taxes that will be levied by the Middle Republican Natural Resources District, at its regular meeting Tuesday night at McCook Community College.

"You're creating a monster that will eat you," warned Bill Barger of Culbertson, citing the proposed $9.8 million bond the Republican River NRDs will borrow to purchase surface water rights. Barger asked the board to not proceed with the bond as there has been no history of surface water usage.

"You're buying blue sky," he said, claiming water was being purchased that farmers were not even using.

But Dan Smith, MRNRD district manager, disagreed and said that water has been measured at several locations for several years. As an example, he pointed to a canal gauge at Culbertson that measured 6,000 acre feet last year.

Barger wasn't satisfied and shook his head, saying it was a terrible mistake to borrow this kind of money without some kind of written agreement with Kansas.

Dan Wallen of McCook echoed this dissatisfaction and stated it was unfair to levy an occupation tax on land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, or CREP. Under CREP, farmers are paid a sum from the federal government to not plant a crop on the land but instead to grow grass.

Wallen asked that CREP acres be exempt from the $6.80 per irrigated acre that the MRNRD is considering levying.

"You shouldn't penalize those who early on tried to help with Kansas," he argued. He said those who converted land under CREP were "taking a pretty good beating," missing out on the current high prices of corn and "the beating keeps getting worse" with the new occupation tax of $6.80 per irrigated acre.

Smith said Wednesday morning that the board already voted to exempt CREP acres from the occupation tax but that the land will be included under property taxes.

Wallen also said the recent purchase of surface water rights from the Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District, at $7.8 million, has put irrigators in that area in "fat city."

Those irrigators will receive about $360 per acre and still be able to pump ground water, he said. The income generated by the new taxes, to pay for the water buyouts, are unfair, he said.

"A few people are getting a great benefit at the expense of a lot of other people," he said.