LINCOLN, Neb.—A stretch of the Niobrara River basin that spans much of northern Nebraska will remain off-limits to new surface and groundwater irrigation development.
The state Department of Natural Resources announced Friday that it has made a final decision that there is not enough water available to supply any new users without injuring existing water users, meaning it is fully appropriated.
The basin in question stretches from eastern Sheridan County east to near Spencer in Boyd County. The decision by the state finalizes a preliminary determination made by the state in October.
The natural resources districts in the basin that control groundwater use may appeal the decision.
“I would say that’s something the NRDs will have to consider,” said Mike Murphy, general manager of the Middle Niobrara Natural Resources District, based in Valentine. “We see increasing surface water levels and increasing streamflows. But the problem is you have a 1942 water right.”
Murphy was referring to the Nebraska Public Power District. It decided last year to exercise the senior water rights it holds on the river, and that decision that was the primary factor in the state’s determination of the basin as fully appropriated.
The district has had the rights for years but had not used them, meaning irrigators for a long time have had more water at their disposal.
The district uses water to produce power at the 80-year-old Spencer Dam, which it owns.
Ann Bleed, director of the Department of Natural Resources, has said officials concluded that NPPD’s call for water was not a one-year blip and that the district would exercise its water rights in years to come.
The resulting conclusion: not enough water for new irrigation uses.
The state annually studies river basins in the state to determine whether they need the designation. The Niobrara was the only one that got the label this year.
Now that the basin has been declared fully appropriated, the state and natural resources districts in the basin will work together on a plan to curtail water use.
That could take three to five years.
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