Groundwater -- water that exists in the saturated zone of the sand, gravel, soil and stone formations underlying the earth's surface -- is a vital resource to the North Platte Valley. The aquifers underlying the North Platte Valley provide all of the area's drinking water, as well as supplying livestock, industrial and other users. Groundwater also is used to irrigate agricultural crops, both to supplement surface (ditch) water and as a primary source. State law gives the North Platte NRD and Nebraska's other 22 districts the first responsibility for protecting groundwater from over-use and nonpoint-source pollution (such as the leaching of chemicals from a large area). Natural resources districts also have the power to respond to conflicts between users of groundwater and surface water. The North Platte NRD has a number of programs to protect groundwater: Lisco-Oshkosh-Lewellen Groundwater Quality Management Sub-Area In response to elevated nitrate concentrations in the groundwater, the North Platte NRD Board of Directors has voted to establish a groundwater quality management sub-area in a narrow strip of land north of the North Platte River throughout Garden County and including the extreme eastern portion of Morrill County. The board voted on August 19 to establish the Lisco-Oshkosh-Lewellen Groundwater Management Sub-Area and establish Level 2 regulatory controls in the sub-area. A public hearing on the proposal was conducted in June in Oshkosh. Groundwater in the area is contaminated by nitrate that has leached into the aquifer from overlying fields. Contributing factors are application of too much fertilizer, too much irrigation water, or both. The federal health standard for nitrate-nitrogen in drinking water is 10 parts per million. In Garden County, about one-third of the wells tested already exceed this standard, and some wells contain concentrations as high as 80 parts per million. The Level 2 regulatory controls will affect farmer operators in the management sub-area. The controls (listed below) are intended to improve farmers’ ability to manage fertilizer and irrigation water to prevent nitrate from fertilizer from reaching groundwater. The groundwater management sub-area consists of a strip of land along the north side of the North Platte River ranging from about 1 mile wide to about 5 miles wide. Beginning in eastern Morrill County, about 4 miles west of Lisco, it extends to the Garden-Keith County line east of Lewellen. The following controls were approved: 1. Each farm operator must obtain certification by meeting district-approved educational requirements on various topics including nutrient management and irrigation management. Certification must be renewed every four years. 2. Beginning May 1, 2001, approved water-measuring devices will be required for all irrigators, including groundwater (well) irrigators and surface water (ditch) irrigators. Measuring devices must meet specifications and be kept in working order. 3. Farm operators will be required to perform an annual analysis of water from each irrigation well for nitrate-nitrogen levels. 4. Farm operators will be required to perform an annual deep soil analysis of residual nitrate-nitrogen content on each field. 5. Fields that are smaller than 5 acres and are planted to a crop other than corn are exempt from the requirements contained in 2, 3, and 4 above. 6. Annual reports must be submitted by operators for each field, including: results of soil and irrigation water tests; crop grown and yield goal used as basis for determining nitrogen needs; recommended nitrogen fertilizer rate recommendation; amounts and dates of fertilizer and manure applications; flow meter readings and total amount of water applied; dates and amount of water applied for each irrigation and method of irrigation scheduling used; and actual yield of the present year’s crop and planned crop rotation for following year. 7. Fall and winter applications of commercial fertilizer will be prohibited after September 1; wheat and other small grains will be exempted. Map of the Lisco-Oshkosh-Lewellen Groundwater Management Sub-Area Complete text of the Level 2 regulatory controls District-Wide Groundwater Quality and Quantity Management Area In 1996 the North Platte NRD Board of Directors established a groundwater quality and quantity management area to encompass the entire district, as prescribed by the NRD's Groundwater Management Plan. Its main focus is prevention of groundwater contamination and depletion. Rather than regulatory controls, the NRD accomplishes this through increased efforts at information and education and monitoring of groundwater quality and quantity. However, the management area does put in place a new regulation that landowners must be aware of. Before drilling a new well with a capacity of more than 50 gallons per minute, a landowner must obtain a permit from the North Platte NRD. The only exceptions are test holes and dewatering wells with an intended use of 90 days or less. Obtaining a permit before beginning to drill is important for two reasons: 1) Any well drilled without a permit is an illegal well and subject to a cease-and-desist order to immediately halt its use; and 2) the regular permit fee is $17.50, but a late fee is $250.00 (Both fees are established by state law). Groundwater Information Program, Phase 2 The NRD is combining its financial and staff resources with a three-year grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to establish a network of dedicated observation wells. Plans call for wells to be installed in a grid pattern 2 miles apart, mostly in irrigated areas of Morrill County. Phase 1 of the program provided for a similar network of wells in Scotts Bluff and southern Sioux counties. Other monitoring wells have been installed in Garden and Banner counties. More about this program Dutch Flats Groundwater Quality Project This five-year project, begun in 1996, again combines NRD resources with federal funds available through Section 319 of the Clean Water Act to address a new area of elevated nitrate levels in the groundwater of northwest Scotts Bluff County and southwest Sioux County. The project has three components: establishment of an observation well network, one-on-one assistance to farmers to adopt farming methods that protect water quality, and information and education. Groundwater Information On the World Wide Web These sites on the World Wide Web have data related to groundwater or water wells that may be useful to residents of the North Platte Valley: State of Nebraska Registered Water Wells database Other useful Nebraska groundwater data (This link leads to the site map for the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission's home page. For groundwater data, click on the "Relational/Tabular Databases" hyperlink under the "Databases" heading.)