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How Governor Heineman Plans to resolve the Republican River Basin problem
Nebraska is currently 100,000 acre feet over its allocation and must eliminate this overage by December 2007. To do this, Governor Heineman has directed Ann Bleed with the DNR to offer the Bostwick Irrigation District $1,000,000 in cash and has promised to attempt to get another $1.5 million from the Legislature. Bostwick figures this is worth $40 an acre if all they receive is the $1 million and $100 if they receive the additional $1.5 million. Bostwick is concerned that if they accept this money, they may lose out on Prevented Planting insurance money that is worth between $125 and $225 an acre, depending on the individual farm. They will not know if Prevented Planting money is available until June 2006. The State wants an answer immediately on its cash offer. Bostwick has also been told that Nebraska may use eminent domain to take the water. The idea being that if the State takes the water by force, perhaps the farmer will be able to get both Prevented Planting money plus the State’s offer. No one knows if that will work. The farmer is being asked to accept the State’s offer without any assurances that any of this will work out. In addition, the State is asking the Republican River NRDs to sign a promise saying that the NRDs will reduce water use by farmers even more than already reduced. Governor Heineman says that if the NRDs do not agree to this, he will not put any money in his budget for the Bostwick purchase. The Tri Basin NRD and the Middle Republican NRD have agreed to sign the promise. The Lower Republican rejects the Governor’s demand. The Upper Republican has taken no action. The State also says that the IMPs that it signed in the spring of 2005 and that it assured the public would be adequate to deal with the problem need to be renegotiated to force the NRDs to make greater reductions in extreme drought conditions. Note that Basin precipitation in 2004 was 106% of normal; and in 2005, it was 100% of normal. Even so, the State is saying the drought is causing 2004 and 2005 to have the two largest ever recorded overages. Bostwick currently believes that it has 10,000 acre feet of water in Harlan Country Reservoir to which it has the right. Bostwick also believes that if it transfers the right to use this water to Kansas, then Kansas becomes responsible for the evaporation off of the lake. Bostwick says Kansas cannot refuse to accept this transfer. Nebraska believes the evaporation is worth an additional 5,000 acre feet. Below the dam but before the canal diversion, Bostwick believes that another 5,000 acre feet will join the stream. Therefore, the total amount of water Bostwick believes it cannot use to the credit of Nebraska is 20,000 acre feet. The Nebraska side of Bostwick has 23,000 acres that can be watered with canal water. About half of these acres can also be watered with ground water wells. If the State did not buy the water, then Bostwick would be able to put about 1.5 inches of water on each acre in the district. That is too little water with which to irrigate a crop. By selling the water, Bostwick gets cash for water it cannot use anyway. By purchasing the Bostwick water, Nebraska reduces its current overage from 100,000 acre feet to 80,000 acre feet. It still has done nothing to deal with the remaining 80,000 acre foot overage or future overages. The DNR estimates that Nebraska will be over its allocation between 25% and 33% of the time. CREP and EQIP programs will result in Nebraska receiving about a 3,500 acre foot credit by the end of 2007. There are no other plans being suggested by the Governor to keep the State in compliance or deal with the future overages.
Read letter from Governor written by Governor that he expects NRDs to sign.
Stories referenced to create this report.
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