Unanswered Questions
At the end of 2007, Nebraska will fail to honor the agreement it has made with Kansas regarding Republican River water. The NRDs do not have the legal authority to solve the problem, nor are they the primary cause of the problem. Our question is this – how does Nebraska plan to protect itself economically when it fails to honor the agreement?
The State does not have any public document that lays out how it will comply or what it will do it if fails to comply. Water policy officials who are responsible for Nebraska staying in compliance refuse to answer questions. The questions we ask and cannot get answers to are:
- How will Nebraska become compliant with the agreement made with Kansas?
- If Nebraska fails to comply, what will happen?
- If irrigation wells are turned off, how many will need to be shut down?
- Which wells need to be turned off to cause the least economic damage?
- Will there be compensation to the landowner who loses his access to water?
- Will there be any type of compensation for businesses that lose their irrigation customers?
Before Katrina hit the Gulf coast, the officials in charge knew the levies would not hold if a strong enough hurricane hit. The community chose to give certain individuals the responsibility for creating an evacuation plan and implementing it, if needed. They failed.
Nebraska knows an economic storm is coming. Nebraska knows that what has been done so far is inadequate. Most Nebraskans trust their government to find a solution so that life can continue as it always has. But, when the people in charge will not reveal how they will deal with the problem, it usually means that they don’t have a plan or that they know the plan will fail.
The public that is trusting and relying on their elected representatives deserve to know the threat, the plan on how to deal with the threat, and what they must do to help, if anything.