Thanks for facts in water disputes

 No comments  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

Only a few short years ago a substantial number of Nebraskans were still battling efforts to expand government authority to limit the number of irrigation wells.

My how things have changed.

The latest development is the lawsuit filed by landowners along the Niobrara River in northwestern Nebraska arguing that wells drilled by Wyoming residents in the river valley are depleting flows in the Niobrara before the river crosses the Nebraska border.

The farmers and ranchers are trying to force the state of Nebraska to enforce a compact with Wyoming that regulates how the states share water in the river.

On the Nebraska side of the Niobrara River new irrigation wells already are banned in order to stem declines in the groundwater and to protect the flow in the Niobrara River.

In this case the interests of the farmers and ranchers coincide with those of canoeists and wildlife supporters who want to preserve flows in the Niobrara.

A 76-mile stretch of the Niobrara has been declared a National Wild and Scenic River. More than 44,000 people floated down the river last year, catching glimpses of elk, heron and other wildlife and enjoying beautiful vistas.

It wasn’t until 2004 that the Legislature gave the state Department of Natural Resources authority to declare river basins overappropriated and establish moratoriums on irrigation wells.

It wasn’t until the following year that court rulings finally started building case law that the state had the right to regulate irrigation pumping in its attempt to preserve flows in Nebraska’s rivers and streams.

It’s ironic that a group of farmers and ranchers in the Niobrara River valley are accusing Wyoming landowners of doing the same thing that Kansas residents are accusing Nebraska landowners of doing in the Republican River valley.

The positive note in the continuing controversy is that as time passes the link between groundwater and surface water is becoming better understood and more wisely regulated.

A separate state supreme court ruling last month upheld the right of the Department of Natural Resources to limit groundwater irrigation in hydrologically connected adjacent river basins when river flow is threatened.

There will always be tension between different interests when it comes to water issues. Recreational enthusiasts will fight to keep water in the state’s rivers and reservoirs. Irrigators will protect their interests. States will jealously guard the interests of their residents.

But at least the disputes are much better informed these days. That’s progress.