At the Nov. 9, 2006 regular board meeting, the North Platte Natural
Resources District board of directors voted unanimously to require
the installation and use of flow meters on all regulated wells within
the overappropirated area of the district. The deadline for
flow meter installation was May 1, 2008 .
The overappropriated area includes the boundary lines established
by the Department of Natural Resources (indicated below in pink).
View
Overappropriated map in detail
|
Why
Meter?
Flow meters accurately record the amount of
water pumped and the rate at which water is passing through an
irrigation system. Flow meter information not only helps an irrigtor
monitor the efficiency of irrigation wells, but also allows water
to be appropriately applied to match a crop's evapotranspiration
(ET) rate.
The move toward metering came in 2006 after
months of work by the North Platte NRD's Water Resources Subcommittee
to come up with ways of dealing with drought-related water shortage
issues and allegations by down stream water users of over-pumping
in the North Platte NRD. Subcommittee members agree that the best
way to substantiate ground water use is through metering.
Trouble
Shooting Flow Meter Problems
The following are typical problems encountered
by NRD staff when servicing and repairing flow meters:
Condensation
Under Lens |
Flow
meter should be repaired immediately to prevent further
damage to meter. |
Meter
Lid is
Broken
or Missing |
Lid
should be replaced or meter cap installed to prevent excessive
heat build-up in meter. |
| Gray
Dust on
Dial
Face |
Excessive
vibration is damaging meter. Meter may need to be relocated.
|
| Meter
is
not
running |
Contact
your NRD immediately. |
|
Using
Your Flow Meter
Most flow meter have a volume totalizer that
registers either acre-feet, acre-inches, cubic feet, or gallons.
It is usesful to know how to convert your meter
registration value to acre-inches, since ground water allocations in
the North Platte NRD are measured in acre-inches.
Example
1: Converting Gallons to Acre-Inches
Left:
Standard 8" meter dial face with gallon totalizer. Remember to note
the multiplier beneath the totalizer. In this case, the meter reads
"GALLONS x 100", so we add 2 zeros to the 6-digit dial face reading.
Gallons = 89,057,200
Present
meter reading
89,057,200 gallons
Subtract
previous reading 79,488,700 gallons
Total
Gallons Used
9,568,500 gallons
To
convert gallons to acre-inches divide gallons used by 27,154
Example:
9,568,500 divided by 27,154 = 352.38 acre-inches
To
figure acre-inches used, divide acre-inches by acres in field (example:
125 acres) 352.38 acre-inches divided by 125 acres = 2.82 acre-inches
applied
Example
2: Converting Acre-Feet to Acre-Inches
Left:
Dial face with acre feet totalizer. Remember to note the multiplier
beneath the totalizer. In this case, the meter reads "ACRE FEET X .001",
so we place a decimal point three places to the left. Acre Feet = 974.602
Present
meter reading
974.602 acre-feet
Subtract
previous reading 968.176 acre-feet
Total
Acre-Feet Used 6.426
acre-feet
To
convert acre-feet to acre-inches, multiply acre-feet used by 12
Example:
6.426 x 12 = 77.112 acre-inches
To
figure acre-inches used, divide acre-inches by acres in field (example:
64 acres)
77.112
divided by 64 acres = 1.20 acre-inches applied
