New Water Legislation to be Introduced
Senator Mark Christensen plans to introduce a revised water bill on Monday, Feb 26.
This is a summary of what the revise bill will look like. Take a look at the full summary on the link at the left.
LB 701 is designed to address the water problem in the Republican River Basin. This version of the bill is to be introduced February 26 in response to the many comments and suggestions to the original version of the bill. This version does not have a Basin Administration Committee, any water transfer language, or property taxes. It has funding matching the Governor’s suggested amount, an equal groundwater allocation for both those close to and far from the stream, and a division of responsibility according to the cause of depletions to the stream.
Compliance on an annual basis is assured by requiring a reduction in water use by groundwater users in a control year of about 50%, a reduction in surface water use by 50%, and Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) activities that address stream depletions due to decades of uncontrolled vegetation growth and millions of acres of conservation activities that benefit water quality and flood control.
The Act deals with the Republican River Basin only.