Kearney meeting marks tug-of-war on water law

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By ART HOVEY / Lincoln Journal Star

KEARNEY — Representatives of a state water task force and about a dozen Nebraska cities searched for answers Monday that would protect shrinking water resources without infringing on cities' economic development and population growth.

Lincoln, Beatrice, York and Fremont were among those looking for assurance that their futures would not be compromised by a 2004 water law that allows the state to restrict well drilling by both agriculture and municipalities.

Late in a 2 ½-hour session, Dan Smith of Curtis and the Middle Republican Natural Resources District said nobody should forget the limits of negotiating when water resources are fully obligated.

"That means that those uses that are out there have been taken," Smith said. "There are no new uses."

The Middle Republican is among about a dozen areas in the central and western part of the state already designated by state Natural Resources Director Roger Patterson as fully or over-appropriated.

Under those circumstances, "You can't just say we've got a new industry coming in and we need all the water we can get. I don't see us doing that," Smith added.

Most of the people in the Kearney meeting room Monday were representing either the 49-member Governor's Water Policy Task Force or the Nebraska League of Municipalities and its approximately 390 member cities.

Much of the focus of their attention is LB962, passed by the Legislature last year and designed to find sustainability in managing use of both surface and groundwater by irrigators, power districts and the residential, commercial and industrial customers that are mostly tied into city water systems.

The tensions brought to bear on water use before and after LB962 go with the depleting effects of drought and heavy groundwater pumping on reservoirs, rivers and streams, as well as balancing the needs of agriculture and other customers.

Among the most assertive voices Monday were two attorneys representing Sidney, which has spent millions of dollars in recent years pumping water from far away to one of the state's most water-stressed cities.

"We've got a population of people we've got to give some basic domestic service to," said Jordan Ball of Sidney.

The impact of Monday's give and take was not easy to quantify, but Dave Cookson of the Nebraska Attorney General's office and Lincoln attorney Don Blankenau, retained by the League, took a shot at it.

Blankenau didn't see any major breakthroughs on resolving differences.

"I heard things that suggest an educational process occurred," he said. "I don't know if it represents movement yet or not at this point."

 Said Cookson: "I think the people here need to recognize what are their limitations, depending on where they're located."

That might be particularly hard to accept in central and western areas, where groundwater supplies are more meager. It also could be expensive in a water future in which cities must buy water rights from irrigating farmers.

Pat Heath, director of public works for the city of Gering, said agricultural producers in Colorado are already cashing in on city needs.

"Some of the farmers are actually making more money selling water rights to cities than they are farming," he said.

Just before adjournment, Patterson suggested two priorities for the next task force-municipality meeting, which will be July 14 in York.

One would be a base line of domestic water use in cities that would not be subject to the limitations of LB962. The other would give some similar latitude to cities trying to accommodate the water needs of new industries that expect answers in days, not weeks or months.

"I think it's uncertainty that's our issue," said Jack Vavra, York city administrator. "We don't know what we've got to work with."

Steve Huggenberger, a task force member and an assistant Lincoln city attorney, advocated for some wiggle room that would accommodate population growth and "give cities some assurance that they can grow their domestic use and still be provided for."

Reach Art Hovey at 523-4949 or at ahovey@alltel.net.