| 08/12/2005 |
| Irrigators share disdain with appropriation rules |
| By LORI POTTER , Hub Staff Writer |
KEARNEY — There wasn’t much to laugh about during three hours of testimony Thursday morning in Kearney on proposed rules Department of Natural Resources staff used to identify fully appropriated river basins.
However, Nebraskans First Executive Director Don Adams of Lincoln drew chuckles — even from DNR Director Roger Patterson — with his opening remarks. Referring to a newspaper story earlier this week quoting Patterson as saying people are going to hate the proposed rules, Adams said, “I am here today to validate Mr. Patterson’s assessment.”
The review is required by LB962, and DNR’s first report is due Jan. 1. Patterson has resigned as DNR director, effective Aug. 19. Deputy Director Ann Bleed will become interim director. When asked by the Hub if he will issue the basin assessment rules before he leaves office, Patterson said, “I don’t know.” He said the staff will review all the testimony received by DNR through the end of the workday Monday. If it’s decided to change any rules, a second hearing would be required on the revisions. “Everything I’ve heard so far ... was debated at length with the negotiated rule-making committee,” Patterson said Thursday during a break near the end of the hearing. Bleed said the committee had met seven times since December, but it didn’t reach consensus on such issues as the formula to set geographic boundaries for fully appropriated areas and using a 25-year lag effect to compute the effect of groundwater pumping on hydrologically connected streamflows. Some critics of the proposals had said they believed Patterson had his mind made up before the hearing. “You always get accused of that,” Patterson said. “At every hearing I’ve been at in 30 years, someone always thinks you’re just going through the motions.” e-mail to:
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