Irrigators may face shut-offs, water short year

Thursday, September 6, 2012
Trail 1 on the west side of Harry Strunk Lake, north and west of Cambridge, Nebraska, is at an historic low, according local residents. Courtesy photo

CAMBRIDGE, Nebraska -- Several southwestern Nebraska lake reservoirs are currently near or below inadequate levels to support recreation and irrigation.

Low reservoir levels are typical in the late summer and early fall after the end of irrigation season, but this year's low levels are especially significant. That is because of the likelihood that the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) may declare 2013 a compact-call year, meaning it forecasts the State of Nebraska has the potential to be out of compliance in 2013 with the Republican River Compact, a 1943 water agreement between Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.

As a result of the declaration, the DNR will order that reservoirs in the Republican River Basin are not allowed to refill and store additional water, which usually happens each spring. Also as part of Nebraska's strategy for compact compliance, surface water irrigators in the basin will have their natural flow appropriations shut off for the year.

"For the duration of next summer, the reservoirs will likely be at or below their current levels," said Brad Edgerton, manager of Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District (FCID), which delivers natural flow irrigation water from the Republican River Basin and storage water from Federal reservoirs to more than 45,600 acres in southwest Nebraska. "That's discouraging for farmers who irrigate out of the Republican River, as well as the general public who take trips to the reservoirs for family vacations and weekend getaways."

While recognizing the importance of Nebraska's compliance with the compact, Edgerton said FCID feels Nebraska's compliance strategy compromises the water rights of its customers. By statue, surface water irrigators have senior appropriations, or first rights to the water in the Republican River. However, surface water irrigators are the first to face curtailment. FCID also wasn't offered an opportunity to contribute input into Nebraska's plan for compliance.

The Republican River Compact is currently the subject of litigation between Kansas and Nebraska. Kansas is suing Nebraska for millions in damages and seeking to shut off irrigation to 300,000 acres in Nebraska's portion of the Republican River Basin after Nebraska was out of compliance with the compact in 2005 and 2006. As part of the lawsuit, Edgerton recently traveled to Maine where testified on behalf of FCID to a Special Master of the U.S. Supreme Court.

FCID does not favor the proposed remedy asked for in the Kansas legal claim. Instead, FCID supports a conjunctive management study currently being conducted together by Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and the Federal Government to find solutions to the current issues. However, the lawsuit jeopardizes the conjunctive management efforts and places the resolution to compact compliance in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"If we are going to address and solve water issues surrounding the Republican River, we need to work together and take a comprehensive approach that collectively involves everyone who either impacts or is impacted by the river in the solution," Edgerton said.

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