Nebraska is unique because of its rich diversity
of natural resources, wildlife, and business opportunities. From
Henry to Nebraska City, the state's heritage and success lie in its
people and their wise use of resources. The state's diversity is
very apparent in the Platte River Basin. The North Platte River
meanders in from Wyoming, while the South Platte River comes in from
Colorado. The two join to form the Platte River near North Platte,
flowing across the state.
Within the Platte River Basin, people and nature
both depend on the life-supporting rivers and tributaries. Thousands
of acres of cropland depend on the water source from both the surface
supplies and the underground aquifer. Wildlife depends on the
river's habitats to survive.
The Platte Basin Habitat Enhancement
Project (PBHEP) was established to provide an added solution to help
landowners in Nebraska's Platte River Basin meet the region's water
needs, for wildlife and for the state's valuable agricultural economy.
PBHEP hopes to accomplish this by helping landowners
make transitions that can maintain economic health, while at the same
time reduce depletions to the river. This can be accomplished by
taking advantage of a variety of conservation projects. Landowners
can choose easements or other projects that fit their operations best,
using cost share dollars to ease the costs associated with the transition.
PBHEP
Objectives:
-
Transfer
irrigated cropland to dryland cropland and native grassland habitat
suitable to the local ecosystem.
-
Reduce
consumptive use of water to enhance stream flows by 15,500 acre-feet
per year.
-
Open
additional acres of land to public hunting access.
-
Inform
the public about the benefits of preserving native habitat.
-
Develop
projects that reduce consumptive water use or increase benefits
to wildlife. Such projects could include conjunctive use of
surface water irrigation projects, reservoir development for storage
and release or retiming of recharge, water leasing, or others deemed
beneficial to general habitat improvement.
How
Does PBHEP Work?
Landowners
wanting to participate should contact their local Natural Resources
District office to discuss options that work for their own
operation. Then, in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Natural
Resources (DNR), Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, The Nature Conservancy,
the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Platte River
Whooping Crane Trust and the Nebraska Farm Bureau, staff from NRDs and
cooperating entities will work with landowners to develop a plan suitable
to the native ecosystem and the landowner's farming practices and land
uses. Possible conservation easement options include:
-
Change
commingled groundwater/surface water irrigated cropland to dryland
cropland or grassland
-
Change
surface water or groundwater irrigated cropland to dryland cropland
or grassland
-
Other
methods effective to reduce depletions other than retirement of
irrigated acres (EX: water leases, water storage/release projects,
etc.).
In
addition, landowners providing walk-in hunting access can receive
up to $7.50 per acre per year from the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission. Rates
will depend on the amount of huntable cover and hunting opportunities
provided on the property.
Reaping
the Benefits
The primary project beneficiary will be the Platte
River Basin ecosystem. Increasing habitat diversity and the resilience
of the Platte River Basin ecosystem will provide sustainability of both
the natural and agricultural production systems. Achieving greater
stability will provide multiple long-term economic, social and environmental
benefits to all inhabitants of the Platte River Basin.
Funding
The North Platte Natural Resources District received
$1,275,000 in 2009 and an additional $725,000 from the Nebraska Environmental
Trust for the Platte Basin Habitat Enhancement Project in April 2010. This
is the second year of award with a potential for third year funding
totaling $3,000,000. The project was one of the 88 projects receiving
$14,970,328 in grant awards from the Nebraska Environmental Trust in
2010.
These funds will enable the Platte Basin Habitat
Enhancement Project (PBHEP) to implement components of the Nebraska
Natural Legacy Project in the Platte River Basin from the Colorado and
Wyoming state lines to Columbus, Nebraska. The Nebraska Game and
Parks Commission (Commission), the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources
and the Platte Basin natural resources districts (NRDs) are partners
of the project. The Legacy Program has designated the expansion
of grassland habitats and their associated habitats along the length
of the North Platte River, the South Platte River and the Platte River
as a priority in its state conservation strategy. To enhance the
availability of native grasslands and instream flows for fish and wildlife
and increase the resilience and sustainability of both agricultural
and native habitats in the Platte Basin ecosystem, the PBHEP will purchase
irrigation water rights on a willing seller basis and convert the land
irrigated by the water right to either native habitat or a dryland farming
operation. Currently-used federal programs have achieved some level
of temporary retirement of irrigation rights to create habitat and enhance
instream flows; however, there is a need for more irrigation retirement.
Using these federal programs as a base, funds from
the Nebraska Environmental Trust will be combined with local and state
dollars to provide added incentives to convert these temporary contracts
into permanent contracts that will provide aquifer recharge, and stream
flows in perpetuity and native grassland habitat for at least the life
of the federal program contracts (10-15 years). The Commission
and the NRDs working with other partners will develop individual habitat
management plans suitable to each local ecosystem and the landowners'
operation. They will provide education opportunities throughout
the basin to encourage other landowners to initiate their own habitat
enhancement plans. By enhancing native habitats in the Platte Basin,
this project will increase the sustainability of both our native and
agricultural ecosystems, provide additional hunting, fishing and recreational
opportunities, and diversify the income base of people in the Platte
Basin and the whole State of Nebraska.
CONTACT
INFORMATION:
