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More to Republican River story
EDITOR'S NOTE -- The following was in response to an editorial Tuesday in the Lincoln Journal-Star:
The Dec. 1 editorial criticizes irrigators as the cause of water problems in the Republican River Basin. There is much more to the story than what the editorial relates. Yes, irrigators are, in part, responsible for the problem. However, there are other causes as well.
The numbers vary significantly from year to year, depending on whether it is a dry or wet year; but an approximate average distribution of effects on the stream by various parties are:
* 33 percent -- Riparian vegetation (based on the recently published USGS tree use rates)
* 30 percent -- Conservation -- terraces, minimum and no tillage, canyon dams, and retention ponds
* 20 percent -- Surface diversions (this is more when the reservoirs are full and less when empty)
* 15 percent -- Groundwater irrigation
* 2 percent -- Municipal
The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources has the numbers a bit different. The DNR places conservation at 0 percent and increases the groundwater share. The point being that there are other factors besides irrigation that affect the stream flow. Placing all of the blame and responsibility on just one of the groups affecting stream flow is inaccurate and unfair.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the issue is the responsibility of the state. Why? Because it was the state that negotiated the Compact. It was the state that settled out of Court with Kansas in 2002 while excluding the Basin's Natural Resource Districts from the process. It is the state, in part, that continues to fund programs that reduce stream flow.
People in the Republican River Basin recognize that the state does not wish to accept financial responsibility; yet, the state still wants to control water policy in the Basin. If all of the financial responsibility is to be placed on the residents of the Basin, then shouldn't they be able to control the water policies that affect them? If the state wants to control policy, then shouldn't it accept some of the financial responsibility?
It is not fair to create unfunded mandates and simultaneously refuse local funding.
Steve Smith
WaterClaim