In June, 2007 the North
Platte NRD Board of Directors voted to set an allocation on
ground water irrigation wells in the overappropriated area of
the district. This decision was spurred by the ongoing drought
and increasing use of wells to supplement the limited surface
water supplies at that time.
Water Year 2009 was the first full
irrigation season under the initial allocation of 18 acre inches
per water year.
In the spring of 2010 Board of
Directors unanimously approved a four-year, 56-acre-inch per certified
irrigated acre ground water allocation. This allocation went into
effect March 29, 2010 and will remain in effect through Water
Year 2013.
Under
the new Chapter 6 rules, irrigators are allowed 56
acre-inches of ground water per certified irrigated acre over
a four-year allocation period beginning with Water Year 2010.
This amount can be applied at any rate on certified irrigated
acres within the four-year allocation period, but must not exceed
56 acre inches during this period. This results in a
yearly average allocation of 14 acre-inches per certified irrigated
acre over the allocation period. This
new allocation applies to all certified irrigated acres (acres)
within the overappropriated area of the NRD with the exception
of the Pumpkin Creek Management Area.
A
full
text of these rules is available here or can be obtained
at the District office in Scottsbluff.
|
