Lower Republican Votes to Seek Interbasin Transfer Permit
The Lower Republican NRD voted on July 13, 2006 to begin the process of applying for a permit to import water into the Republican River Basin. This is a significant development. The LRNRD has decided to proceed with this process because the alternatives are less attractive.
The State has put the NRDs in an impossible position. The State of Nebraska negotiated a Settlement Agreement with Kansas that commits the NRDs to reducing usage. The NRD’s were excluded from these negotiations but are being made responsible for complying with the results.
The only authority the NRDs have is to control the amount of water each landowner can use. But even if the NRD’s order everyone to stop using water for the next 4 years, they still fail to live within the obligation the State has everyone committed to.
The NRDs have three choices. One, order the shut down of many if not all wells for a number of years; two, obtain permission to import water into the basin; or three, do nothing and hope Kansas or a Federal judge will ignore the Agreement and not enforce it.
The State and some of the NRD managers are suggesting that option three is best. Some suggest that Kansas appreciates all that Nebraska is doing and it is fearmongering to suggest that Kansas might seek enforcement of the Agreement.
However, if Nebraska wants to reduce the cost and risks associated with a large scale shutdown of irrigation then the importation of water is the least expensive and the least disruptive to the economy of not only the Republican River Basin but to the State of Nebraska.
Purchasing water from 25,000 acres in the Platte River will save between 150,000 and 330,000 acres in the Republican from being shut off. Compensating the landowner and the communities providing services to 25,000 acres is far less expensive for everyone involved than paying for the 150,000 to 330,000 acres.
There are a lot of people that say this cannot be done. They have and will continue to provide a long list of why this will never work or never be permitted. But before you conclude they are right, take the time to look at the proposal and see if the critics are honest about what the proposal does. Also consider what the motivation is of the person who says it can’t be done. There are some people in positions of trust that have intentionally misrepresented the transfer proposal in order to hurt its chances of happening.
This will not be an easy project to make happen especially when there are a lot of people that want it to fail. Just imagine trying to climb a hill when there are several people trying to trip you every step of the way. It is true this will be hard to make happen. But consider what the alternative is if we fail. It is worth making the import happen.