NU scientist downplays water crisis

Speaking at a recent Open House near Whitman at UNL's Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory, Burbach said that some areas that have seen long-term decline are in the Southwest and the Panhandle.

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There tends to be less precipitation in these areas and producers compensate with irrigation. Burbach said that water tables farther east have historically exhibited a pattern of decline and then recovery.

The Lab sits on the thickest part of the Ogallala Aquifer. Burbach doesn't see decline in that region of the aquifer. Long-term water fluctuations have been very flat in the Sandhills, he said. Small, short-term declines may affect wet meadows and be a problem for some ranchers, but long-term ground water levels have been very steady.

All the water in the streams that drain the Sandhills comes from groundwater sources. Almost all of the water in the Loup system comes from seeps and springs up gradient. Most of the water that flows into the Missouri River derives from water under the state.

In other states, most water is from runoff, Burbach said. In Colorado, it's from snow melt, he said. Snow melt plays a big role in Nebraska, too, particularly in recharging reservoirs in the western part of the state.

A new system of real-time ground water monitoring equipment is being installed to complement existing monitoring units. That system as a whole will provide policy makers and decision makers with more timely information regarding water levels and the impact of drought and the recovery from drought.

"We've got issues with the Republican River Compact and declines in parts of the west, but I think we're positioning ourselves to meet those challenges and becoming proactive about facing those issues," Burbach said.