LENRD to increase irrigation allocations to protect drought-stricken acres
NORFOLK – In 2022, in a proactive measure and in response to the acute drought that took a commanding grip in northeast Nebraska, the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District implemented restrictions on wells pumping more than 50 gallons per minute, until the drought decreases in intensity.
Initially, the Lower Elkhorn NRD board of directors had voted to limit municipal water supply wells to 250 gallons per day per capita for any city or town in a D3 or D4 designation, while irrigation wells – that do not already have an allocation – would be limited to 15 inches per acre for each certified irrigated acre for any well located in a designated D3 or D4 area.
After hearing from their constituents on the severity of the current situation for many producers with sandy soils, the board discussed the possibility of adjusting the inches previously allocated.
At their June 22 meeting, board members voted to increase the 15 inches per acre limit to 20 inches per acre for any well located in a designated D3 or D4 area.
“The decision from the board to impose allocations for this year was to protect the health and welfare of the public during the drought, but also to minimize negative impacts to groundwater supplies,” Brian Bruckner, interim general manager of the Lower Elkhorn NRD, said.
“Given the current state of the drought, the board felt it was necessary to increase the inch allocations for any well not already in a designated sub area or not already limited with any other restrictions.”
The state remains in varying degrees of drought, but things have intensified in northeast Nebraska.
“Hopefully, we can catch some rain in the coming weeks that will provide sufficient improvement and maybe bring some areas out of allocation altogether,” Bruckner said.
If drought conditions are downgraded to a D2 designation for a period of 14 consecutive days, the drought-imposed restriction would be lifted for those wells and locations within that D2 designation area. So far, almost 1,400 wells have been removed from the drought-imposed restriction.
Even though the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map shows an increase of D3 and D4 designations throughout the district, irrigation wells already removed from the allocation restrictions will not be reimposed. A map showing the 2023 groundwater allocations may be found online at www.lenrd.org.
In other business, the board heard from Jeremy Milander, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator, who provided a report on the success of the Bazile Groundwater Management Area demonstration sites.
The BGMA received funds from the Nebraska Environmental Trust to demonstrate and research best management agricultural practices to reduce nitrogen leaching into the groundwater.
The next board meeting has been set for 7:30 p.m. July 27 at the Lower Elkhorn NRD office located at 1508 Square Turn Boulevard in Norfolk and on Facebook Live.