December 2006 DNR Proposal for the

Republican River Basin

On December 15, 2006, the DNR, at the Governor's urging, suggested some allocation numbers.  First the DNR passed out a map that showed the irrigation requirement by area.  I have re-colored the map to make much easier to read. The DNR map is derived from High Plains Climate Data and a formula devised by Derrel Martin.  This report is included in the annual report to the Legislature.  The colored map simply smoothes the data and colorizes it so that it is easier to read.

The DNR has suggested an upland well allocation of

URNRD 11.3 inches
MRNRD 9.0 inches
LRNRD 9.6 inches
Tri Bain - no allocation  (may pump as much as desired.)

I have simply compared the irrigation requirements with the allocation suggested by NRD. 

The area that gets hurt the most is near Stratton in the southwest corner of Hitchcock County. The area hurt the least is the eastern end of the Basin.  However, it is important to note that 42% of the land in the Lower Republican NRD is Quick Response.  The DNR has recommended an allocation for Quick Response wells at a much lower rate. 

The allocations for the Quick Response areas are much more stringent. 

URNRD     2.8 to 5.7 inches
MRNRD    2.7 to 5.3 inches
LRNRD     2.4 to 4.8 inches

The reason for the range is the DNR says it doesn't know how many acres there are in the Basin. Note the NRDs have each required every landowner in the Basin to certify their acres in order to be able to irrigate.  The DNR says it doesn't believe the NRDs numbers.  The NRDs take insult. 

If the NRDs certified numbers are used, then the low end of the range would be used.  It is my belief that the DNR chose to use a range of numbers so as to make their proposal not sound quite as bad. 

I don't have access to the maps that will allow me to show the Quick Response areas.  I hope to get that eventually but getting information from the DNR is almost impossible.  I am hoping that the Legislature will force the DNR to release the information the NRDs need to make intelligent decisions. So far, the DNR has been able to control the numbers because the NRDs have chosen to trust the DNR and allow it to ignore their requests for information.  Perhaps, that will now change.