At a special meeting Thursday, the CPNRD Board of Directors approved a motion instructing the staff to inform the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources that the NRD wants the boundaries kept at the “28-40” line.

That line is one way to define river effects from the use of hydrologically connected groundwater. It refers to areas where 28 percent of the groundwater pumped over 40 years would have gone to the river if not withdrawn.

CPNRD General Manager Ron Bishop told the Hub that board members wanted to make it clear that they strongly support that measurement and are prepared to take that position in any hearing DNR might have on the issue.

He added that DNR officials have talked about a “10-50” line that would involve areas with a 10 percent effect over 50 years.

The boundary rules were the topic for four negotiations meetings in six weeks earlier this year, but there was no consensus.

That means DNR Director Roger Patterson will issue the rules his department will use in its annual review of basins to determine which ones are fully appropriated. The review is required under LB962, the state’s new integrated water management law, and the first DNR report is due Jan. 1.

Bishop said his board’s other action Thursday was to say the Cooperative Hydrology Model should be used with any rule to define the exact spots where boundaries should be set in the Platte Basin.

Also Thursday, the CPNRD directors hosted a meeting with about 40 stakeholders — representatives of municipalities, ag-related businesses, well drillers, economic development entities, financial institutions, ag organizations — to review the process the district will follow to write groundwater rules for a integrated water management plan.

The joint DNR-NRD plan is required in all river basins defined as over-appropriated or fully appropriated. Other NRDs in the Republican and Platte basins have started and even approved their plans.

Bishop said Thursday’s meeting was called to encourage Central Platte stakeholders to provide input to the NRD during a plan-writing process that likely will take about 18 months.

“We could throw something together pretty fast,” he said, “but it wouldn’t be a good plan in that it wouldn’t have a lot of input.”

One idea is to have all the stakeholders meet every few months, but use a stakeholders’ executive committee to meet regularly with the CPNRD directors. Bishop said the options for involvement likely will be discussed further at another meeting of stakeholders in the next month or two.

Later this month, CPNRD officials will meet with other Platte Basin NRDs to work on a required basin integrated management plan. Bishop said it also will be an opportunity for Central Platte representatives to get information from other NRDs that are further along in the process of writing their own plans.

e-mail to:
lori.potter@kearneyhub.com