Drought Causes Groundwater Declines
The Upper Big Blue issues a statement.
For the past seven years, the entire state of Nebraska has experienced— and by all indications will most likely continue to experience—a severe drought. In fact, every state west of the Missouri River has had drought conditions that range from moderate to severe over the past several years. The drought is directly correlated with changes in the regional and global climate related to temperature trends in the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, among other factors. Drought conditions have caused decline of water levels at Lake McConaughy and Harlan County reservoirs, as well as low stream flows in the majority of the rivers that pass through Nebraska.
Lower than normal snowfall along the front range of the Rocky Mountains, in Wyoming and Colorado, has produced lower than normal spring runoff into streams with headwaters in these states. Texas, Arizona, California, Wyoming and the Panhandle of Nebraska have been witness to wildfires that rage out of control due to below normal precipitation. We have even seen the grass, shrubs and trees in our own lawns struggle against the drought. The fact is that nature works in ebbs and flows and experiences ups and downs. Nature is not necessarily consistent, and it certainly does not discriminate…Nature is simply what it is…nature.
Some scientists believe that we are currently facing drought conditions that are not only reminiscent of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930’s, but even worse. Although we don’t see the tumbling tumble-weeds and throat choking dust as famously immortalized in the black and white era photographs of Dorthea Lange, we can take assurance in the fact that we are in better shape today to handle droughts because of technology and research that gives us the tools to better manage the soil and water that we depend upon to sustain our Nebraska economy. With this in mind, the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District has implemented proactive rules and regulations to mitigate some of the hardship brought on by drought.
The drought issue is not exclusive to the State of Nebraska. Colorado in particular is shutting down water use for irrigators as the Eastern part of that state is experiencing problems with meeting a growing urban demand for water during the drought. Colorado’s problems with meeting urban water demand are magnified during drought when coupled with a growing commercial and industrial demand for water.
Without question, we are stewards of the land and water that we are privileged to use. However, completely eliminating the use of water for irrigation, either surface water or ground water, would be short-sighted. The Upper Big Blue NRD’s focus in the decision making process is to use the technology at-hand, and to act in both a proactive and protective way to manage the abundant supply of groundwater available. With this in mind, the Upper Big Blue NRD Board of Directors first established its Ground Water Management Area during 1977-78 to prepare for the conditions that we are facing today.
The initial goal of the management area regulations in 1979 was to hold the rate of decline in the Upper Big Blue NRD’s Average Ground Water Level to 0.50 feet per year. The Upper Big Blue NRD’s Observation Well Program includes a network of over 500 wells within the NRD that are measured each year to calculate the average ground water level. Through the conservation efforts of ground water users, and because of an extended period of above average rainfall in the 1980s and 1990s, the Average Ground Water Level in the Upper Big Blue NRD rose significantly to a level in the year 2000 that was approximately seven feet higher than the 1961 level, and fourteen feet higher than the low level of 1976 to 1981. In 1990, the Upper Big Blue NRD established the goal of holding the Average Ground Water Level to above the 1978 level.
In January 2004 the Upper Big Blue NRD changed Rule #5 of the Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations, which now requires that producers will be responsible for installing flow meters on existing wells if the average ground water level declines to the allocation level. Once the allocation level is reached, producers must install meters. If the allocation level is reached, and if producers and other users have not installed flow meters by the next calendar year, then those ground water users will not be allowed to pump ground water until a flow meter is installed. As of March 1, 2004, all new wells and replacement wells installed in the Upper Big Blue NRD are required to have a flow meter.
In the spring of 2006, the Upper Big Blue NRD measured ground water levels at 511 observation wells throughout the NRD. These measurements were then used to compute the Spring 2006 Average Ground Water Level within the NRD. The findings show that the Spring 2006 Average Ground Water Level in the Upper Big Blue NRD is 0.52 feet below the reporting level, and 2.48 feet above the allocation level. Observation wells are measured in the spring of each year, allowing the water table to rebound from the previous irrigation season. Therefore, the reporting level set forth by the Upper Big Blue NRD Rules & Regulations has now been reached. As a result, ground water users in the Upper Big Blue NRD are now required to report annual ground water use to the Upper Big Blue NRD and to certify their irrigated acres in 2007. If the Average Ground Water Level in the Upper Big Blue NRD falls below the 1978 level, the use of flow meters will be required and ground water allocation will begin. It is important for producers to check with their county assessors to see that all of their irrigated lands are being assessed as irrigated. These assessors’ records will establish the base of irrigated lands.
Overall, the Spring 2006 groundwater level change shows an average decline of 0.87 feet from the Spring of 2005. This compares with a Upper Big Blue NRD-wide decline of 0.79 feet between the Spring of 2004 and the Spring of 2005. Over the last six years (Spring 2000 to Spring 2006) the total decline is 11.39 feet below the peak groundwater level of 2000.
The Upper Big Blue NRD is in the process of sending well registration information packets and special reporting forms to water users regarding the 2007 reporting requirements. Municipal, commercial, and industrial users were sent this notification in September, and irrigators will be sent the notification in mid-October. This notification has already appeared in all newspapers located in the Upper Big Blue NRD in accordance with NRD Rules & Regulations. Also, contained in the letter to landowners will be the well registration information and number of irrigated acres that the Upper Big Blue NRD has on file for that landowner. It is the landowner’s responsibility to verify with the Upper Big Blue NRD whether or not the number of irrigated acres and well registration information is correct, and if the landowner is also the operator. [It is critical that this information is correct in case the Upper Big Blue NRD begins allocating ground water in the future].
It is imperative that landowners report their irrigated acres to their County Assessor. If the Upper Big Blue NRD begins allocation of ground water, and landowners have not reported the number of acres that they intend to irrigate, then they may not be allowed to irrigate those acres during the allocation period. If drought conditions continue, the Upper Big Blue NRD expects that ground water levels will continue to drop. When the drought ends, and normal to wetter than normal conditions return, the NRD expects that ground water levels will rise. The amount of recharge to the aquifer is directly dependent upon the amount of precipitation across the Upper Big Blue NRD. Irrigators in the NRD have voluntarily cut back on irrigation due to higher fuel costs to pump the water. The Upper Big Blue NRD which encompasses all or parts of nine counties (Adams, Butler, Clay, Fillmore, Hamilton, Polk, Saline, Seward and York Counties) has also seen a greater number of producers implementing minimum tillage or reduced tillage practices, and replacing gravity irrigation with the more efficient center pivot irrigation systems, which reduce the amount of irrigation water needed to raise a crop. The Upper Big Blue NRD offers a cost-share program to assist producers with the purchase of more efficient, less wasteful irrigation equipment such center pivots, sub-surface drip irrigation systems, low pressure nozzles, surge valves and water flow meters. The Upper Big Blue NRD has also been working with producers for saving water based on the NRD’s experimental research field known as CROP-TIP. The Upper Big Blue NRD has been aware of the current drought situation and has had Ground Water Management Area plans in place for nearly thirty years.
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If you would like information on any of the services that the Upper Big Blue NRD provides, or have any questions please feel free to contact:
CONTACT:
Scott Snell, Public Relations
105 N. Lincoln Avenue
York, NE 68467
(402)-362-6601
UPPER BIG BLUE NRD