LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A stretch of the Niobrara River basin that spans much of northern Nebraska is off-limits to new surface and groundwater irrigation permits.
The state Department of Natural Resources has decided there is not enough water available to supply any new users without injuring existing water users, prompting the new restrictions. The department says the basin from eastern Dawes County east to near Spencer in Boyd County is fully appropriated.
Such restrictions, 'will shut off any future economic development in the entire Sandhills region,' said Mike Murphy, general manager of the Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District.
Murphy questioned the new designation of the basin as fully appropriated, saying that over the long term surface and groundwater levels in the basin have remained stable and in some cases increased.
But the state's top water official said the question that was asked to determine the basin's status is not whether water levels have recently increased or decreased.
'The question is whether during both wet and dry periods, given existing development, if there would be sufficient ... water for new uses,' said Ann Bleed, director of the Department of Natural Resources. 'We determined there would not be.'
The finding is preliminary and subject to hearings. But the new restrictions go into effect immediately, and soon there will be a ban on increasing the number of irrigated acres in the basin.
A main factor in the designation was Nebraska Public Power District's decision this year to use senior water rights it holds on the river. The district has had the rights for years but not used them, meaning irrigators for a long time have had more water at their disposal.
The district uses water to produce power at the 80-year-old Spencer Dam, which it owns.
Because of NPPD's decision, irrigators with rights junior to NPPD must pay the district for the water or stop using it. The agreements let irrigators use their water rights -- for a price -- during times of flow shortages.
Bleed said officials concluded that NPPD's call for water was not a one-year blip and that the district would exercise its water rights in years to come.
The result: not enough water for new irrigation uses.
If the basin gets a final designation as a fully appropriated basin, additional restrictions could be imposed.
The state annually studies river basins in the state to determine whether they need the designation, and the Niobrara was the only one that got the label this year.
Hearings will be held in a few months before a final decision is made by the state on whether the basin is indeed fully appropriated. If it is, the state and natural resources districts in the basin will work together on a plan to curtail water use.
That could take three to five years.
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