Drought could force mandatory water restrictions

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By ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star

The Elkhorn River is running low  — so low that the state climatologist said Lincoln could face mandatory water restrictions in 30 to 60 days.

“It could be sooner than later if it doesn’t rain,” State Climatologist Al Dutcher told members of the state’s Climate Assessment Response Committee on Thursday.

On May 19, Lincoln residents were asked to voluntarily restrict water use. Since then, the city has watched the water supply, which comes mostly from the Elkhorn and Loup rivers. That water feeds the Platte River, where the city gets more than 90 percent of its drinking water.

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A nearly dry section of the Platte River (LJS file)

A nearly dry section of the Platte River (LJS file)

“We have been talking and acknowledging that the flows this year, compared to the last couple (of years), are lower,” Steve Masters, public utilities administrator, said in an interview.

Masters agreed with Dutcher’s assessment, but said if water demand stays where it is today — and the Platte’s flows remain where they are now — then “I think we will be OK.”

But he added, those are “significant ifs.”

Lincoln’s situation is another sign the drought, which many thought was on its way out last year, is back with a vengeance. And some parts of Nebraska are experiencing their seventh year of drought.

Here are other signs of dry times:

n Gov. Dave Heineman on Thursday  added 28 counties to a request for federal drought disaster relief, bringing the total to 36. The counties have suffered at least a 30 percent loss in one or more crop or livestock areas, officials said.

n All of Nebraska is now classified as abnormally dry.  Officials say 46 percent of the state is in severe drought; the southwest is in extreme drought.

n More than half of Nebraska’s wheat crop is rated as poor or very poor, according to the Ag Statistics Service. Wheat growers in the southwest part of the state could lose their crops without timely rains.

n Almost half of the pastures are rated poor or very poor. Cattle producers have been forced to cull herds in many areas, while hay prices are soaring in affected areas.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, told committee members at Thursday’s meeting. He said the state has been in a “downhill slide” since April 1.

Svoboda said Nebraska is half-way through the three wettest months, but many parts of the state are only getting half or three-fourths of their normal rain. And hot, dry winds have made conditions worse.

Mike Hayes, a climate impacts specialist at the UNL-based National Drought Mitigation Center,  said irrigators are taking water from Lake McConaughy earlier than last year because of the dry conditions.

McConaughy, the state’s largest reservoir, is about 1.3 feet higher than it was at this time last year. But the Ogallala-area lake is only about 38 percent full. And if conditions continue, its elevation could seriously decline this year.

The Republican River basin is in worse shape. Inflows into the Harlan County Reservoir stopped in April and irrigation started in May, again due to the hot, dry weather.

Svoboda said there is a good chance parts of Nebraska will get much-needed rain over the next five days, and the long-range forecast calls for above-normal precipitation through June.

Committee co-chair Jack Daniel said towns are doing better mainly due to improvements made to water systems in recent years. About 60 public water systems were restricting water use in 2002, he said, compared to only 18 so far this year.

Jamie Karl, chairman of the committee, said he will forward a list of drought mitigation recommendations to the governor. Some of those are: authorizing roadside haying; researching grazing and livestock insurance; encouraging education efforts; and publicizing the state’s hay and forage hotline.

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.