ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, May 9, 2005 7:00 pm
A group representing irrigators in southwest Nebraska wants to sink 550 wells in the Ogallala Aquifer to help fill Lake McConaughy and provide water to the Platte and Republican river basins.
Tapping the aquifer would solve many of the state's major water issues, said Steve Smith of Imperial, founder and director of WaterClaim, a group of about 100 irrigators and related businesses.
And the $265 million proposal would move water to where it's needed most drought-stricken areas of Nebraska, he said.
But some officials are concerned the project would hurt the Ogallala, one of the world's largest freshwater aquifer systems in the world.
The aquifer covers parts of eight states but about two-thirds of its water underlies Nebraska.
"It's a pretty fragile aquifer," said Ron Cacek, general manager of the North Platte Natural Resources District, where the wells would be drilled.
Mining the Ogallala raises "red flags," said Tim Anderson of the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.
Among them: How would depleting the aquifer affect the Loup River system and other Sandhills rivers fed by the aquifer?
In his report, Smith said his project calls for environmentally friendly water transfers. It is important, he said, to protect the ecology of lakes potentially harmed by aquifer pumping. That could be done by careful well placement.
Each of the 550 wells would pump 1,000 gallons per minute 200 days a year, producing about 450,000 acre feet of divertable water annually, according to the report.
Smith said the water could:
* Keep Lake McConaughy full every year. The state's largest reservoir is now at 36 percent of capacity due to drought.
* Provide more flows to the Platte River, enhancing wildlife habitat downstream.
* Help Nebraska meet its obligations to provide water to Kansas.
* Address aquifer declines in Chase County and other parts of the Upper Republican Natural Resources District.
Under Smith's proposal, water would be pumped from wells in an undetermined area in the North Platte Natural Resources District.
Then 27 miles of pipeline and 100 miles of canals would divert the water: 61 percent of it into the North Platte River above Lake McConaughy; 31 percent to the Republican River Basin.
"I see Nebraska having two choices: We can either shut down irrigation across the state or find a way to manage our water better," Smith said.
Smith believes LB962 a new state law that has made sweeping changes in water policy has fostered an anti-irrigation climate.
The law gives state and local governments authority to manage groundwater and surface water as one resource. It also authorizes the state Department of Natural Resources to declare portions of river basins fully appropriated or overappropriated. If a river or stream is deemed overappropriated, water supplies must be increased or demand for water must be reduced.
That could include taking irrigated acres out of crop production.
"There's a general attitude in the state which is saying irrigation is something we can't do in the state because it isn't good for the environment," Smith said.
There is no anti-irrigation climate, said Roger Patterson, director of the Department of Natural Resources.
"I don't think that's true. There's been a lot of discussions to make sure we have sustainable water supplies in the future that will support irrigation."
Patterson had not yet read Smith's proposal. But irrigators and municipalities are already using the aquifer, he said. Still, he questioned the proposal's impact on existing water users and where the money will come from.
Smith said the federal government could pay half the project's $265 million estimate; beneficiaries of the water would pay the rest.
The project's annual costs paying landowners for access, and operation and maintenance would reach about $13 million.
Jasper Fanning, general manager of the Upper Republican Natural Resources District, said some of the ideas in Smith's proposal, namely water transfers, could help solve water problems.
But he was concerned with the bureaucratic and political hurdles required to approve water transfers, a process that could take up to 30 years.
The project would need the approval of the Department of Natural Resources, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation System and any natural resources districts affected by the water releases.
Central's Tim Anderson said Smith's proposal is worth discussing.
"I think back in the early 1900s, people probably thought that George Kingsley's and Charles McConaughy's idea was loony at the time," he said.
The two spearheaded the development of Lake McConaughy and Kingsley Dam, which supply water to thousands of irrigated acres in west-central Nebraska.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.