Irrigation Equivilent to 450,000 Platte River Acres Stop
On Tuesday, August 23, The State of Nebraska announced that farmers in the Platte River Basin had added 450,000 irrigated acres since 1997. The problem is that Nebraska promised Colorado and Wyoming that it would, at Nebraska’s expense, reverse the effect of these acres on the river.
There are two ways Nebraska can accomplish this. One is to take 450,000 acres out of production. To not have any effect on the river, it needs to be wells with a similar impact on the stream as the ones that have been added.
The other way to comply is to reduce usage for everyone to accommodate the new acres. The distance from the river influences the effect any one well causes on the stream in a given time period.
The Cohyst Model has been created which is able to report the amount of credit Nebraska receives for shutting off any particular well.
The individual who has made the investment in developing a piece of ground for irrigation has done so with permission from the State of Nebraska. When Nebraska made the pledge to Colorado and Wyoming to stop all development at the 1997 level but then did nothing to actually restrict development activity it created a huge liability for itself.
Right now the discussion is about who is going to be liable and how much the individual will be compensated when his access to water is taken away. If you are an landowner in the Platte or Republican River Basins you should pay close attention because the State is in the process of deciding how much to compensate you for your asset.
Take a look at http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=2229209 for additional information.