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At their regular meeting June 14, 2007, the North
Platte Natural Resources District board of directors voted to
set a base limit of 18 inches starting in 2009 on wells
in the overappropriated area. The board said it is time
to begin using allocations as a way to preserve the district’s
groundwater resource and comply with the state’s water law.
The 7 to 2 decision was spurred
by the ongoing drought and increasing use of wells to supplement
the limited surface water supplies.
Board chairman John Maser of Minatare
and director Jim Hass of Bridgeport agreed with the need for groundwater
regulations, but indicated that they would be more comfortable
with setting an allocation once the district had read and compiled
the pumping data from flow meters on wells in the overappropriated
area. The deadline for installation and use of flow meters
on all groundwater uses in the overappropriated area is May 1,
2008.
Members of the district’s
water resources subcommittee have focused extensively on groundwater
issues for the past ten months. Current groundwater level data
indicates declining water levels in the Dutch Flats area north
of Mitchell and Morrill and other areas in the overappropriated
area (see map and article on page 3).
Subcommittee members Gary Darnall,
Jerry Dillman, Dave Deines and Pete Lapaseotes, Jr., along with
NRD staff, urged the need to start pushing forward with
tighter groundwater regulations.
“If we don’t start something for ourselves, someone
else is going to do it for us,” said Deines. “We’ve
got shortages in the district. We’ve got to start doing
something about it now.”
Subcommittee chairman Gary Darnall,
speaking on behalf of the subcommittee, initially recommended
to the board to set a base allocation of 18 inches in the overappropriated
area for three years, and to revisit the allocation level annually.
After much discussion, the motion was amended to strike the time
frame and develop rules for setting an initial base allocation
of 18 inches in the overappropriated area beginning in Water Year
2009.
“It will put a stop to the overpumpers out there and it
will get us headed in the right direction,” said Lapaseotes
of the base allocation. “We’ll revisit it after we
get all our pumping data in.”
The NPNRD staff has started drafting
rules and regulations for the allocation of groundwater in the
overappropriated area. This adoption process will include public
education efforts based on current groundwater data and the opportunity
for public comment on the proposed allocation rules.
Once the draft rules for allocation
have been completed, a public hearing date will be set. |
