NRD TAKES ACTION ON GROUND WATER RULES

“We’re getting a process started.” That’s how Lower Loup Natural Resources District General Manager Leon "Butch" Koehlmoos described the NRD Board’s approval of a plan to begin the process of adopting new rules for the District’s Ground Water Management plan.

At the NRD Board meeting on December 22nd, the NRD Board gave unanimous approval to a plan recommended by the District’s Water Resources Committee that would include a study of the Loup and Elkhorn river basins and a temporary two-year suspension of well drilling in the Lower Loup. The two-year suspension would match the time expected to complete the river basin study.

Koehlmoos said NRD officials are concerned with the uncertainty of state regulation if the Department of Natural Resources would determine next year that the Loup River basin was fully appropriated, meaning all available surface and ground water was being utilized. One particular concern is that state regulation could put the future use of newly permitted wells in jeopardy. The Loup River basin was found to not be fully appropriated in 2005, but DNR officials said the basin was “very close.”

Koehlmoos said Lower Loup officials don’t currently have adequate information to make decisions regarding future development within the District. Koehlmoos said, “We have begun the process of developing a Loup/Elkhorn River Basins water modeling project to collect the necessary data and to develop tools to assist with our water resources planning.” The availability of the ground water resource and interaction of ground and surface water in the Loup and Elkhorn basins are two of the critical issues to be studied.

There are three new rules proposed for addition to the NRD Ground Water Management Plan. The first rule would establish a variance process and create a Variance Committee. The second creates a process for the certification of irrigated acres and the third rule would implement a temporary suspension on the drilling of new wells. Click here to see the proposed rules as a pdf file.

NRD Assistant Manager Russell Callan told the Lower Loup Board that the District would hold public information meetings regarding the proposed rules in early February and a public hearing would be held at the NRD’s monthly board meeting on February 23rd.

To view an informational power point presentation on the Lower Loup's proposed rules, click here.The Power Point program must be installed on your computer in order to view. This is a large file and will take some time to load, especially with a dial-up internet connection.