Nebraska to reduce Platte River acres by 15% to 18%
Nebraska must reduce Platte irrigated acres by 15% to 18%.
According to the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program - Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 1, page 5-255 there were an average of 2.62 million irrigated acres in the Nebraska portion of the Platte River Basin during 1988 to 1997. See report. Nebraska has agreed to reduce the number of irrigated acres to the 1997. It can do this by eliminating the equivalent of all new acres or reducing the effect on the stream caused by all new acres by an equal amount.
According to the latest unofficial information released by the Governance committee on the Platte River Program, Nebraska has added 450,000 acres Platte River irrigated acres since 1997. See story on report to Water Policy Task Force.
This means the total irrigated acres in the Nebraska portion Republican River Basin is currently 3,059,680 acres. Nebraska must, because of the Memorandum of Understanding with Colorado and Wyoming and because of LB962, eliminate irrigation on all acres added since 1997. This would be about 450,000 acres or 15% of the total.
In addition, if Nebraska signs the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program then Nebraska will reduce another 0% to 3% of the irrigated acres in the Nebraska portion of the Platte River Basin depending on which of the suggested options are chosen.
If Nebraska decides to attempt to comply by reducing usage for everyone, then fewer acres would need to be shut off but yields would be less for everyone.