Governor's Water Budget
Heineman proposed establishing a water resources cash fund with annual allocations of
$2.7 million in state funds
$300,000 potential annual contributions from the Environmental Trust Fund
$1 million from the federal government.
The funding would be used to pay for conservation programming.
"We cannot wait for a federal judge to decide our fate in the Republican River basin," he said.
In addition to the state and federal funds, the governor said he would propose using one-half cent from the current corn checkoff fee beginning in 2013 to help fund the conservation programs.
The 2006 crop is projected to be 1.23 billion bushels and a 1/2 per bushel tax would result in about $6.125 million dollars a year. The Governor is suggesting taking some of the money currently dedicated to ethanol activities and redirecting that to water issues.