Irrigators won't get full allotment

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By The Associated Press

NORTH PLATTE — For the third year in a row, irrigators won’t get their full allotment of water from the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.

The Central board of directors decided Tuesday that in 2007, irrigators will get 6.7 inches of water per acre, the same amount delivered in 2005.

The Holdrege-based district was considering not releasing any water because of low levels in Lake McConaughy.

The irrigation district serves farmers of more than 112,000 acres in Gosper, Phelps, Kearney, Dawson and Lincoln counties.

Before seven years of drought started, irrigators got around 18 inches an acre. This season they received 8.4 inches an acre.

Central public relations manager Tim Anderson said it was likely the district would be able to deliver the promised amount. But, ultimately, it depends on inflows and water levels.

Lake McConaughy is currently at 19 percent capacity, just 1.5 feet above the record low set in 2004.

The state’s largest man-made reservoir can hold nearly 2 million acre-feet of water.