The Upper Niobrara White Natural Resources District is hosting 2 public information meetings today to discuss proposed changes to the rules and regulations for its Groundwater Management Area and Integrated Management Area.
     The first meeting is this morning at 10:00 in Alliance at the Knight Museum with the second this afternoon in Rushville at 3:00 in the Security First Insurance building.
Both will have a formal presentation followed by a question-and-answer comment period.
Under Nebraska law, each NRD must identify a Groundwater Management Area and an Integrated Management Area covering both surface and groundwater, and must update their maps and rules and regulations every 5 years..
Upper Niobrara White Board Chairman Dave Kadlecek says updates may be needed because of new or revised state statutes or regulations, changing environmental conditions, water quality or quantity concerns, or new technology and cropping practices
Kadlecek says the board and its Water Committee have continued to study those issues to determine if the goals and objectives for groundwater management are still being met under the NRD’s existing plans.
The current irrigation water allocation period is ending and Kadlecek says that after. discussing changes to the rules for several years, the board has decided to incorporate many of the modifications to coincide with the adoption of the next allocation plan.
The proposed new allocation plan limit is 65 acre-inches of irrigation combined from 2025-2029 with a carry-over of 32.5 acre-inches.
Some of the other revisions are simple housekeeping edits to reflect new or clarified state requirements such as a modified review process for variances and water transfers, but some are more significant.
Those include codifying board policies and adding language to allow a groundwater management area to move to a less restrictive phase