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Limited
Irrigation Cropping for Conserving Water Resources in the Pumpkin
Creek Watershed
In
the Fall of 2004 the North Platte NRD teamed with the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln soils specialist Dr. Gary Hergert, the Natural
Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) are Pumpkin Creek Basin producers
to conduct a research projects on limited irrigation no-till cropping
systems. The three-year project looked at production practices
and results in raising spring and winter canola, winter wheat,
sunflowers, dry edible beans, and corn. Dr. Gary Hergert and UN-L
now have full details of the project and its findings posted on
the Panhandle Research and Extension Center's website.
Click
Here for Full Details
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Pumpkin
Creek Basin (PCB) Sub-Area |
Map
of well moratoriums statewide
The
Pumpkin Creek Basin Groundwater Management Sub-Area, established in
2001, includes parts of Banner, southwestern Scotts Bluff and southwestern
Morrill counties. The sub-area has three purposes: to protect ground
water quality, protect ground water quantity, and provide for the integrated
management of hydrologically connected ground water and surface water.
The sub-area was established in response to declines in ground water
levels and in stream flows in the creek itself. Water level declines
coincided with a large increase in the number of irrigation wells in
Pumpkin Creek Basin . The number of registered irrigation wells about
doubled between 1975 and 2000, increasing from 250 wells to about 500.
Some elevated concentrations of nitrate also have been measured in the
ground water.
Regulatory
Controls
- Moratorium
on permits for new wells. All lands within the Sub-Area are
closed to the issuance of any additional permits to drill water wells.
The moratorium does not apply to replacement wells. Certain other
wells are not affected by the moratorium because they do not require
permits to drill, including wells for human needs and range livestock.
- Flow
meters. Well owners must install flow meters, except on wells
used for domestic or household purposes and range livestock.
- Educational
requirements. Each irrigator must be certified by meeting
district-approved educational requirements for best-management practices
in the operation of irrigation and cropping systems. Certification
will be good for four years.
- Allocation
. Groundwater will be allocated among all users, except range
livestock and households. For 2004, each certified irrigated tract
is allocated 14 acre-inches per certified irrigated acre. Irrigators
would be allowed some flexibility. An allocation might be used on
an individual field, or several fields might be combined to form an
allocation unit. Certified livestock operations are allocated an annual
amount equal to 20 gallons per day per animal unit of capacity as
certified by the NRD. An animal unit is equal to one slaughter or
feeder cow or steer. Other animal unit equivalencies: Mature dairy
cattle or cow-calf pairs, 1.4 AU; Swine weighing 55 pounds or more,
0.4 AU; Weaned pigs less than 55 pounds, 0.04 AU; Sheep, 0.1 AU. Certified
groundwater users other than irrigators and livestock producers must
apply to the NRD and receive an allocation, based on historic use
and other relevant information.
Guidelines
for Allocation for Irrigation in PCB
Certified
Irrigated Tracts (individual fields):
If an irrigator uses less than the 14-inch annual allocation of ground
water, up to half of the unused allocation may be carried over for use
the following year. If an irrigator uses the entire allocation before
the end of the Water Year, a portion of the following year's allocation
may be used. That amount will be subtracted from the following year's
available water. In any event, the total irrigation water pumped in
a year – the well cap – cannot exceed 24 acre-inches per acre. If the
well cap is exceeded, an additional penalty is subtracted from the following
year's allocation.
Allocation
Units:
An
allocation unit consists of all the certified irrigated
tracts and water wells so designated by the District or by a landowner,
so that the allocations of more than one certified irrigated tract may
be combined. The total allocation then can be applied anywhere on the
acres within the unit, subject to some limits.
A designated allocation unit
consists of two or more certified irrigated tracts that meet
the following criteria: 1) They are owned by the same person; 2) They
are irrigated by wells that are not interconnected with any wells that
supply any other certified irrigated tracts; 3) They are irrigated by
wells located within a 1-mile by 1-mile square; 4) If any of the certified
irrigated tract s are supplied by two or more wells, at least one of
the wells must be within the 1-mile-by-1-mile square.
A pre-existing (grandfathered) allocation
unit consists of
two ore more certified irrigated tracts that meet the following criteria:
1) They are irrigated by two or more interconnected wells; 2) They are
owned by the same person; and 3) The wells were interconnected as of
December 19, 2002 .
Rules for allocation units:
1. Unused water may be carried over from one year to the next, up to
half the prior year's allocation.
2. You may not borrow ahead to pump any of the following year's water,
as is allowed on individual fields. This is because allocation units
are allowed the flexibility of moving water from one field to another.
3. A well cap of 24 acre-inches per acre applies to each well in an
allocation unit, as long as the well is not connected to any other well.
There are penalties for exceeding the well cap or exceeding the total
allocation.
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