NRDs work to avoid shutdowns

Friday, November 6, 2009

CURTIS -- Nebraska is considering shutting down irrigation in the Republican River Basin as a last resort, to make sure enough water gets to Kansas in dry years, but natural resources districts in the basin are considering strategies to avoid that option.

The plan by the state and other proposals to keep water in the river in water-short years will be discussed at the Middle Republican Natural Resources District meeting Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., at the Community Center in Curtis.

The board also will consider a presentation by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, scheduled at McCook, Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 1 and 3 p.m. at the City Auditorium.

In September, the DNR first presented its plan to shut down wells in certain portions of the Basin during dry years, as a way to keep compliance with the Republican River Compact.

In recent talks with Kansas, an arbitrator found that Nebraska didn't have sufficient plans to keep water in the river in years designated as water-short. The state has set Dec. 1 as the deadline for the NRDs to adopt the proposal.

A water-short year is designated when Harlan County Lake has 119,000 acre-feet or less in storage. This level ensures that enough water gets to Kansas.

Each of the three NRDs in the basin will decide how their district will meet its portion of the water supply depletions, with the Upper using 44 percent, the Middle, 30 percent and the Lower, 26 percent.

The first option by the state would require a permanent irrigation allocation of 3.6 inches per irrigated acre in the entire Lower NRD. Proposed limits for other NRDs in the basin would be 4.8 inches for the Middle Republican NRD and 5.9 inches in the Upper Republican NRD, according to the DNR plan. The current allocation for the Middle is 12 inches and for the Upper, 13 inches.

The second option shuts off irrigation in water-short years to those close to the stream, affecting 76,900 irrigated acres in the Lower, 59,100 acres in the Middle and 44,500 acres in the Upper.

Option 3 would shut off water use to fewer acres but require a 1 percent annual reduction in water use from all remaining users. Acres affected would be 45,800 in the Lower, 44,500 in the Middle and 22,700 in the Upper.

Dan Smith, MRNRD general manager, said the state's proposal affects all districts equally, based on the alluvial plain becoming wider from the western part of the basin going east.

At Tuesday's meeting, board members will look at programs the district can use before a year is designated as water short, such as a five-year rolling average with a fee structure or a voluntary fee irrigators would pay. The voluntary fee would set the allocation lower than its current rate and irrigators would pay to use additional water, purchased from another irrigator's allocation. These are discussion items and no action will be taken.

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