Reckless regulation

Editor:

Brad Edgerton, manager of the Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District, was required by law to sit for the deposition in the Kansas-versus-Nebraska case and to answer questions truthfully. So, I disagree with any attempt to label Edgerton a traitor and to make him a scapegoat for Nebraska's over-development of the Republican River water resource.

The Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District was built based on the prior appropriation doctrine. Upstream groundwater pumping reduces downstream surface water flows. Nebraska, through its natural resources districts, has significantly reallocated the historical water supply of the district to upstream groundwater users.

The district, like Kansas, expects Nebraska to live up to its end of the deal. Nebraska needs to protect the irrigation district's water supply from groundwater interference, or compensate it for the reallocation.

Nebraska must economically develop our groundwater resources. However, Nebraska must develop its groundwater resources in a manner that recognizes its obligations to surface water appropriators, downstream states and the environment.

Otherwise, in addition to dry riverbeds, Nebraska will find itself in litigation with no one to blame but itself for reckless regulation of our water resources.

Robert McCormick

Holdrege, Neb.