Cities want great voice on water use
LB962 is aimed considerably at an agricultural sector that annually accounts for 95 percent of all water use in the state. But dozens of municipalities are realizing they're also affected by new state regulations that ban well-drilling in areas where the Department of Natural Resources has determined water demand meets or exceeds supply.
As reality sinks in, people far removed from cornfields, cattle feedlots and center-pivot irrigation units are making it clear they aren't just along for the regulative ride.
Lynn Rex, executive director of the League of Nebraska Municipalities in Lincoln, said cities should have more influence on where things are headed.
Put another way, "You cannot say to cities that 'You might end up on bottled water, but that's OK. The center pivots get the flow.'"
Count on the municipal sector to be much more agreeable to an upcoming dialogue that will put 12 people to be chosen from their ranks by the end of the week at the table with members of the Governor's Water Policy Task Force.
And count on cities to point out to task force representatives that golf courses aren't the main reason for some city-friendly adjustments in 962.
It's about growth, it's about attracting industries and it's about guaranteeing that when city residents turn on a residential faucet, water comes out.
"Municipalities should have a guarantee that they're going to have water," Rex said.
Chris Anderson, city administrator for the 3,000 residents of Central City, said the five seats set aside on the 49-member task force for the municipal point of view don't necessarily add up to equality.
"If 95 percent of the water is used by agriculture, then there's an argument that they should have 95 percent of the seats," Anderson said. "But if 90 percent of the people live in municipalities, then maybe they should have 90 percent of the seats."
Or, maybe, said Rex, cities should at least have half. "We want an equal number," she said. "We want an equal number to that on the agricultural side."
Looming large in Anderson's thinking is a possible expansion at Central City's Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol plant at a time of a well-drilling moratorium.
"The demand for water will go up dramatically," he said, "probably in the area of 300 gallons a minute - which, for us, is two wells, because we don't like to run one more than 12 hours a day."
Beyond the need for some quick answers on pressing industrial matters lies a lot more uncharted territory in the new water world in Nebraska, Anderson said.
"We're all still trying to figure out what the rules are. I can live with something, if I know what I'm living with. But there are so many questions about how all this is going to be put into effect."
McCook City Manager John Bingham said all this will take time to sort out under circumstances in which 23 natural resources districts can craft different answers to conserving water.
The answer for McCook, as approved by the Middle Republican NRD in its integrated management plan, is an allocation of 750 gallons per person per day for all cities within its boundaries.
"We didn't create the problem, and we're not really the solution to the problem," Bingham said. "But that's too simplistic."
As reality sinks in, people far removed from cornfields, cattle feedlots and center-pivot irrigation units are making it clear they aren't just along for the regulative ride.
Lynn Rex, executive director of the League of Nebraska Municipalities in Lincoln, said cities should have more influence on where things are headed.
Put another way, "You cannot say to cities that 'You might end up on bottled water, but that's OK. The center pivots get the flow.'"
Count on the municipal sector to be much more agreeable to an upcoming dialogue that will put 12 people to be chosen from their ranks by the end of the week at the table with members of the Governor's Water Policy Task Force.
And count on cities to point out to task force representatives that golf courses aren't the main reason for some city-friendly adjustments in 962.
It's about growth, it's about attracting industries and it's about guaranteeing that when city residents turn on a residential faucet, water comes out.
"Municipalities should have a guarantee that they're going to have water," Rex said.
Chris Anderson, city administrator for the 3,000 residents of Central City, said the five seats set aside on the 49-member task force for the municipal point of view don't necessarily add up to equality.
"If 95 percent of the water is used by agriculture, then there's an argument that they should have 95 percent of the seats," Anderson said. "But if 90 percent of the people live in municipalities, then maybe they should have 90 percent of the seats."
Or, maybe, said Rex, cities should at least have half. "We want an equal number," she said. "We want an equal number to that on the agricultural side."
Looming large in Anderson's thinking is a possible expansion at Central City's Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol plant at a time of a well-drilling moratorium.
"The demand for water will go up dramatically," he said, "probably in the area of 300 gallons a minute - which, for us, is two wells, because we don't like to run one more than 12 hours a day."
Beyond the need for some quick answers on pressing industrial matters lies a lot more uncharted territory in the new water world in Nebraska, Anderson said.
"We're all still trying to figure out what the rules are. I can live with something, if I know what I'm living with. But there are so many questions about how all this is going to be put into effect."
McCook City Manager John Bingham said all this will take time to sort out under circumstances in which 23 natural resources districts can craft different answers to conserving water.
The answer for McCook, as approved by the Middle Republican NRD in its integrated management plan, is an allocation of 750 gallons per person per day for all cities within its boundaries.
"We didn't create the problem, and we're not really the solution to the problem," Bingham said. "But that's too simplistic."
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