http://www.kearneyhub.com/html/opinion/opinion_1.htm
Moratorium on wells holds hope Platte can be saved
The Platte River in central Nebraska hasn't really deserved to be called a river the past few summers. Between Mother Nature's stinginess with rainfall and snow and irrigation wells sucking groundwater at prodigious rates, the Platte has been dry for mile after mile. Meanwhile, attempts to protect the river were inching along at an agonizingly slow pace.
Finally, however, there is reason for hope that the river can be saved for future generations.
The Water Policy Task Force last week agreed on a plan for restoring water levels in the Platte River to what they were in 1997.
Two days later, the Central Platte Natural Resources District established a temporary moratorium on new wells in a zone six to eight miles wide on both sides of a 180-mile stretch of the river.
The Platte River this spring was designated as one of the nation's Top 10 Most Endangered Rivers for 2003 by the American Rivers organization. The alarming label is thoroughly deserved.
The Platte disappeared occasionally in summer months before thousands of center pivots started sucking water from the river, of course. Irrigators can even find statistics that seem to indicate that the 10,000-plus wells in the river valley haven't had much effect on flow.
But without protection from excessive use, the future for the Platte looks as dry as the riverbed looked this August from Central City to Columbus. ...
Few would dispute that irrigation is important to the state's agricultural economy, but left unchecked, irrigators might not leave enough water left in the Platte for the millions of cranes and other waterfowl that stop on the Platte during annual migrations, not to mention fish and other wildlife. City officials in Lincoln and Omaha that depend on the Platte to recharge well fields also are worried about the future of the river.
The agreements this week are only a small step toward a wetter Platte, but those who prefer rivers with water in them have reason to be encouraged.
Columbus Telegram