| The future of agriculture water, as well as Nebraskas water supplies
in general, continues to generate more concern among users and lawmakers
across the state.
Citing Pumpkin Creek as an example, Sen. Ed Schrock, chairman of the
Nebraska Legislatures Natural Resource Committee, has called for the
creation of a task force to study water issues.
I think its a move in the right direction, said Dennis Strauch,
manager of the Pathfinder Irrigation District at Mitchell. We seriously
need to look at the groundwater and surface water laws and see how they
can work together.
According to Schrock, the task force legislation will have priority in
his committee when the 2002 session begins. He envisions a group similar
to the one that earlier studied public power deregulation. It had seven
working members and a 43-member advisory group. Schrock is asking Gov.
Mike Johanns to support funding for an out-of-state facilitator to lead
the water study task force.
Schrock said it could take three years, but he expects results before
then. He would like to see the studies include the value of water, how to
meet the no new depletions plan that is part of the proposed Platte
River Cooperative Agreement, and how to compensate water users for
damages.
Nebraskas water situation has become more visible for several
reasons. These include the recently settled, 15-year long lawsuit between
Nebraska and Wyoming; the development of the Platte River Cooperative
Agreement that involves water usage in Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming; the
lawsuit between Kansas and Nebraska; and most recently, the suit filed by
Banner County water users along Pumpkin Creek.
During a recent public meeting at Harrisburg, Professor David Aiken of
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, explained that Nebraska is the only
western state that has failed to address the relationship between ground
and surface water. He said the states legislature gave the Natural
Resource Districts some powers to deal with the issues, but there still is
no clear definition of who is right or wrong in cases like Pumpkin Creek.
Aiken believes one reason for avoiding the conflict between ground
water and surface water users is the fear of additional restrictions on
new wells and development.
The North Platte NRD took that issue head-on this past year and imposed
a moratorium on new wells in the Pumpkin Creek area. Approximately 500
wells have been developed in that basin in the past 50 years, and surface
water users do not have enough water for their requirements.
Several studies are under way throughout the state to clarify the
relationship between surface and ground water. The largest is COHYST, or
Cooperative Hydrologic Study, which is being conducted in conjunction with
the Platte River Cooperative Agreement to study issues along the Platte
River and its tributaries and basins.
According to Strauch, who is also a member of the Agreements
Governance Committee, the study consists of three sections. The eastern
part of the state is nearly complete because a lot of data already
existed. The central section had to gather more data, but it is making
good progress. The Panhandle area may slow completion of the study because
monitoring wells had to be drilled to get more information.
Its good that were starting to see more interest in dealing
with ground water and surface water issues, Strauch said. This study
that is proposed by Senator Schrock will be broader, and will include
water policy in general, which will give us a larger picture.
Committees working on the Platte River Cooperative Agreement will meet
at the Gering Civic Center Dec. 11 and 12, according to Strauch. |