http://www.theindependent.com/stories/120703/opi_other07.shtml
Published Sunday, December 7, 2003
Irrigators not to blame for low flows in Platte
Last modified at 12:27 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 2003
This is in response to the editorial captioned "Platte River needs future protection from overuse" appearing in your Nov. 30, 2003, edition. First of all, I recognize that the piece was a reprint of an editorial by the Lincoln Journal-Star.
In essence, the editorial blames groundwater irrigation wells for the extremely low flows in the Platte River, the low water level in Lake McConaughy, and even harm to fish, waterfowl and wildlife that inhabit or stop on the Platte during annual migrations.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are in a drought -- hopefully in its latter phase. Mother Nature afflicts us with such a natural phenomenon every 20 to 30 years or so. Life as we know it is not over. The Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming will once again receive plentiful snowfall, and the resultant snowmelt will move east and restore normal levels in our rivers, streams and reservoirs. This process is cyclical and predictable.
The constant attack and blame on groundwater irrigators for "drying up the Platte" is totally unfounded and unsubstantiated. What people must understand is the fact that groundwater pumping for irrigation impacts Platte River flows very, very little. During the drought years of the "Dirty Thirties," before there was any groundwater pumping, the Platte River completely dried up for extended time periods.
Just last October, the engineering hydrologist of the Central Platte Natural Resources District stated that, "there is no evidence that groundwater pumping is depleting flows in the Platte River." A well-known and highly respected water expert (now retired) from the UNL Conservation and Survey division recently stated that depletions in Platte River flows are caused by surface water diversions, not groundwater pumping.
Consider this: Based on U.S. Geological Survey data, there were fewer than 1,000 groundwater wells in the central Platte valley in 1941. Today, there are more than 47,000 wells in the valley. If groundwater pumping were truly adversely impacting streamflows one would conclude that river flows in the Central Platte River would have decreased proportionate to the number of additional wells. Such is not the case at all. In fact, using five and 10 year running averages since 1935, river flows at Grand Island have mostly been above average the past 30 years.
Those seeking to put the clamps on groundwater irrigation choose to ignore the facts and embrace the myth that groundwater irrigation is an evil practice that is drying up the Platte and harming certain birds and fish. It never ceases to amaze me how so many people with little or no knowledge of irrigation or hydrology buy into this myth. You could shut off every single well in the Platte, and during a drought period such as this one, the river would still be low and dry in certain reaches.
What we do know for sure is this: Groundwater irrigation is the salvation of our state. It provides the lifeblood that built this state from a desert into a world-class agricultural producer. It fuels the engine that drives our economy and it enriches and sustains our property tax bases. But for groundwater irrigation, the drought would have wrought grievous damage to our already shaky economy. Groundwater irrigation, which irrigates 85 percent of all irrigated acres in Nebraska, continues to keep our ship of state from going under. Because of groundwater irrigation, Nebraska's number one industry -- agriculture -- is successfully fighting its way through this drought. The economic benefits generated through groundwater irrigation, even in the toughest of times, are immeasurable and irrefutable.
Don Adams is executive director of Nebraskans First, a groundwater irrigators' group.