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Form
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Worksheet Map-
% Depletion by Section LB
962 Fully & Over-Appropriated
Update:
11/01/09 Article from In
Perspective Newsletter: The NRD’s Water
Banking Program began in January 2007 to try to reduce the need to regulate
irrigators within the District. As
part of the program, the NRD purchases water rights as a solution to balance
water that is being used with water that is available.
Two major programs required the NRD to find a solution– the Platte
River Recover Implementation Program (PRRIP) and Legislative Bill 962.
The NRD must stay in compliance with both of these programs.
Currently, the majority of the NRD is at its limit for water use, known
as fully appropriated. The western
most part of the District, above Elm Creek, is designated as over-appropriated;
which requires the NRD to bring water back to a fully appropriated status.
The NRD has currently
acquired 1,430.6 acre/feet in the over-appropriated area, while 1,900 ac/ft are
needed above Elm Creek. An
additional 1,500 acre/feet are required between Elm Creek and Chapman due to the
requirement of the Platte River Recovery Program.
The
NRD is currently in need of acquiring more water rights in both the fully and
over-appropriated areas to eliminate the need for irrigation regulation in the
future.
The Water Bank holds
permanent easements on land accepted into the program and pays landowners to
convert the irrigated land into dryland. If
the NRD does not succeed in retiring enough acre-feet of water to bring the
over-appropriated area back to a fully appropriated status and bring the area
between Elm Creek and Chapman into compliance with the PRRIP, it is likely that
regulations on irrigation acres would be imposed as that is the only viable
option.
9/24/09
Ron
Bishop gave an update on the Program. Bishop
reported that the NRD has acquired 1,304.37 acre-feet to the river with three
closings scheduled for next week in the over-appropriated area.
The NRD has spent $2.7 million acquiring those acre-feet.
Bishop said 264.99 acre-feet have been acquired in the fully appropriated
area, however, the majority of those acre-feet have been resold to landowners
trading acres and developing land.
9/3/09 Ron Bishop, general manager, reported to the committee that the NRD has acquired 1,450 ac/ft in the over-appropriated area above Elm Creek. Bishop asked for direction on whether he should slow down on purchases and the committee voted to continue purchasing water rights as the requests come in.
8/10/09
New
Law to Affect All Water Transfers--Landowners in the Central Platte Natural
Resources District will now be required to provide information on loans held on
land associated with water transfers. LB 477, introduced by the Nebraska Bank
Association, states that any transfers are required to include a report of title
issued by an attorney or a registered abstracter, the nature of the transfer,
and the date on which the transfer occurs.
2/26/09 Ron
Bishop reported that the Water Banking Program is going well and will close on
another 300-400 acre-feet of water to the river within the next month.
Currently the Department of Natural Resources is helping put together a program through the Natural Resources
Conservation Service called AWEP. This
new program would help the NRD acquire water rights along with the current CREP and EQIP programs. James
Huntwork, NRCS, said payment information and the areas that will be eligible for
AWEP will be available next month.
12/18/08
Ron
Bishop distributed a spreadsheet on transactions made.
The NRD still needs to acquire 2,100 ac/ft of water
to get back to 1997 levels, and potentially more to get the are below Elm Creek (over-appropriated) back to fully appropriated.
Bishop also gave an update on options available in transferring payments
through the Water Banking Program including CREP.
Through this federal program, landowners will receive $120/ac for 15
years to seed land to grass and $1,100/acre foot of water to the river for a
permanent
retirement of acres.
The Game and Parks Commission is also offering $7/ac to allow hunting
on land seeded to grass.
Makings
of the CPRND Water Bank
In
January 2007, the board of directors
approved the first water bank transaction in the district by approving a
variance request and the deposit of 2.4 acre-feet per year into the District’s
water bank. Jim Bendfeldt,
director in Sub-District
5, made the donation of the offset water. The
board approved the Central Platte NRD Water Banking Policy in May 2007, which
defines the process of a how a water bank will work.
Directors approved the policy to diminish the chance of having to
regulate irrigators. Through the
water bank program, the NRD acquires water rights from landowners.
For every acre-foot of water that impacts the river that the NRD can
acquire, there’s that much less regulation and cutback the NRD will have to
impose. So
far, the NRD has purchased 827 acre-feet of water and another 148.5 acre-feet
are in planning to be purchased from landowners who have expressed interest.
As of July 2008, CPNRD has spent $2.25 million in purchasing the water
rights to get the over-appropriated area back to a fully appropriated status.
The
COHYST model has been useful in determining the amount of acre-feet needed to
bring the Platte River back to 1997 levels.
As of now, it looks like the NRD will need to reduce river depletions by
2,400 acre-feet to bring the over-appropriated area of the Platte River back to
1997 levels and about 3,400 acre-feet in total.
The
NRCS is helping the NRD find ways to conserve water.
There are two NRCS programs that have partnered with the Water Bank
Program. EQIP (Environmental Quality
Incentives Program) and CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program).
These programs are offering upfront incentives to operators to make
permanent retirement of their irrigation rights.
Under the EQIP program, producers may still plant dryland crops on their
land.
Check the stream depletion percentage on YOUR LAND. If your land is located in the Western part of the District-click here. If it's in the Eastern part, click here.
***At the November Board meeting, Ron Bishop, manager, reported that 3 pending easements were approved in Dawson County for the Water Bank Program. The board also approved the purchase of four other easements in the amount of $470,000 with the requirement that the acres are currently certified as irrigated. These easements will provide nearly 200 acre-feet to the river. James Huntwork, NRCS, said that several of the individual landowners qualify for the EQIP Conservation Easement Program; which will allow them to receive funds through the NRCS and the NRD to retire their irrigated acres.
Need
for the Water Bank
The concept of a “water bank” is new to
us in the Central Platte NRD and to the state of Nebraska. That’s why the
Board of Directors have diligently been discussing details about how a water
bank should be set up and maintained. On May 24, 2007 the board approved the Central
Platte NRD Water Banking Project which defines the process of a how a water bank
will work.
LEGISLATION
Before going into the actual process, let’s
first review why we need a water bank in the District. Two recent developments
have made the establishment of a “water bank” of critical importance.
The first began in 2004, when Nebraska adopted LB
962 that calls for the integrated management of surface water and groundwater.
As part of the LB 962 process, the Platte Basin above Elm Creek, Nebraska was
declared over-appropriated. Columbus to Elm Creek was designated as fully
appropriated. With those designations,
the NRDs and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are responsible for
developing Integrated Management Plans (IMP) that would call for “no new uses”
in the basin above Columbus that would negatively impact an existing surface
water right or groundwater use. New uses could be allowed, but any depletion to
existing rights and uses must be “offset” with water. Additionally, in the basin above Elm Creek, the IMP will have
to replace or offset uses sufficient to return the basin to a fully-appropriated
status; with the first increment of that effort being a return to 1997 levels
(since this area has been designated as over-appropriated.) This too, will
require all the uses above and beyond a fully-appropriated status to be replaced
or offset.
WILDLIFE
PROGRAM
The second development was when Nebraska
entered into the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP) in 2006
with the states of Wyoming and Colorado and the U.S. Department of Interior. The
program calls for no new depletions to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “target
flows” and a return to the 1997 level of depletions. Again, new uses could be
allowed, but any depletion must be offset with water. This
replacement of water or “offset” can be accomplished in any one of three
ways.
|
OPTION
1: Purchase water. |
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OPTION 2: Regulation. Primary problem with Option 2: Operators develop their labor and equipment based upon an operation of a certain size. A 5%, 10% or 15% reduction in the size of that operation reduces the efficiency of their labor force and/or their equipment; and opens up the question of what to do with the non-irrigated and non sub-irrigated acres. Change equipment for dryland crops? Inefficiencies with Option 2: Inefficiencies are built into this “regulation” option. These include how much land, and which lands, are retired to meet the required goal. Since not all of the lands impact the river the same amount, there will be acres retired that have both a large and a small impact on the river– even if areas that have similar features are “grouped.” Administration is also high on this option since every farm operation would have to be monitored for compliance. Nevertheless, regulation must remain a viable option because it is one sure way of meeting the requirements of Nebraska law. |
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OPTION 3: Water Right Acquisition. Water Banking Policy The Central Platte NRD Board of Directors has decided that Option 2: Regulation and Option 3: Water Right Acquisition are the options that will be implemented in order to achieve compliance with the law within the CPNRD. Option 3: Water Right Acquisition will be the first option implemented. The Board will do as much as economically reasonable and feasible to achieve the requirements before implementing Option 2: Regulation. This water right acquisition will be handled through the District’s Water Bank that will also be used to facilitate offset acquisitions for new and expanded uses. These adopted policies on May 24, 2007, officially start the NRD Water Bank. The NRD will begin acquiring water rights within 45 days. |
WATER BANK POLICIES
OPTION 3: Water Right Acquisition
◄
Acquire water rights and uses that have an impact on Platte River stream flow to have available for replacement or offset needs of (a) the NRD, (b) new agricultural and industrial uses.◄
Upon request, deposit and account for individuals that have impact on the Platte River stream flows but are being abandoned. Water rights and uses deposited in the water bank by individuals will be protected and preserved for 15 years; after which time, if unused, they revert to the Central Platte NRD to be used, sold or transferred.◄
Administrative fee (per acre-foot transferred of the then current rate) will be charged at:5% Individuals withdrawing their own previously deposited water rights or uses to transfer to a new use of their own.
10% Individuals withdrawing their deposited water rights or uses to transfer to another person’s new use.
15% Individuals acquiring water rights for offsetting their own new depletions.◄
District will acquire water rights and uses from current users on a willing seller/willing buyer basis.◄
Preferred method of acquisition would be by perpetual conservation easements that control future uses.◄
Temporary conservation easements, temporary leases, and fee title to land will only be considered on a case-by-case basis and only if it’s advantageous to the best interest of the District and its residents.Target Water Rights & Uses
Benefit:
Defined as only those parts of a water right or use that impact the Platte River within 50 years and can be counted as replacement or offset water if retired. (Not all wells and uses impact the river equally.) A use that depletes the river 80% of what the use consumes provides twice the replacement or offset benefit as a use that consumes the same amount of water but only impacts the river 40%.When acquiring water rights and uses to retire and place in the water bank, the NRD will base payment rate on the impacts to the river. The higher the impact to the river, the more the value.
In order to maximize the benefits of, and insure uniformity and equity in benefits & costs, water rights and uses will be based upon a cost per acre-foot impact on the river.
Target Areas
The “over-appropriated” area above Elm Creek will be the highest priority area because:
-Replacement water needs are higher in areas designated as over-appropriated.
-Location is in the upper end of the District and can serve offset requirements and needs for all agricultural, municipal and industrial uses downstream.
The NRD will initially reserve 70% of the appropriated water bank funds to target this area each year.
The remaining 30% of the water bank funds will be reserved for the rest of the District. The location of each acquisition will be considered since acquisitions can potentially serve a wider number of new uses the further west they are located in the District.Target Programs
Center Pivot Programs:
Center pivot programs offered by the USDA (EQIP Program) & the NRD that temporarily reverts corners back to dryland will be a target program by offering an additional incentive to permanently revert those corners to non-irrigated, non sub-irrigated uses.New Program:
The District will also initiate a new Water Rights Acquisition Program to acquire water by reverting irrigated uses to non-irrigated, non sub-irrigated uses.Administration
Water bank activities will be reviewed by the Water Bank Subcommittee.
The Subcommittee will forward a recommendation to the Board of Directors for final action.
First in Nebraska
Central Platte NRD’s water bank is the first to be implemented in Nebraska. At least three other Natural Resource Districts (NRDs) currently considering water banks in the Platte Basin, especially those that have been declared over-appropriated. These NRDs include: the Twin Platte NRD in North Platte, the Tri-Basin NRD in Holdrege and the North Platte NRD in Gering.
Ron Bishop, general manager, said the state of Kansas is the only other state that he knows of that has a water bank.
