Wednesday, December 03, 2008

By SANDRA HANSEN
Ag Editor

When the Nebraska Legislature's Natural Resources Committee held hearings in the Panhandle recently, two of its members were able to take advantage of a tour of a segment of the local irrigation system. Beginning at the Wyoming/Nebraska state line, the group, headed by State Water Superintendent Tom Hayden of Bridgeport; Dennis Strauch, general manager of the Pathfinder Irrigation District at Mitchell; and Dennis Beyer, executive director of the High Plains Weed Management Association, visited the delivery canals and their diversions, as well as district operations along the tributaries and storage reservoirs.

Senators LeRoy Louden, committee chairman, and Mark Christensen, legislative staff members, and representatives of the natural resources districts and the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, covered the area between Henry and Lake Minatare. The tour was organized by the Nebraska State Irrigators Association, through Strauch, one of its members.

According to Strauch, who also presented testimony at the Aug. 20 hearing, the tour was designed to help the legislators understand the complicated system and how each part of it impacts other parts downstream.

"I think it helped them understand how complex this system is, and how each diversion is critical because the next user downstream depends on it," Strauch said. "This diversion at the state line is the first use generation for downstream. If it isn't consumed, it goes on down to other districts, like Enterprise or Winters Creek. The key is where it comes back in because the water needs to be there. You can do things to upset that system."

An example of unintended consequences could be the efficiencies brought about by center pivots. These systems have almost eliminated any runoff from the bottom of the fields that used to find their way back to tributaries and the river for use downstream.

Strauch said he and other water officials have emphasized caution when policy decisions are being made so that any affects on return flow don't have a negative impact.

Protecting existing water users is also going to be a challenge for policy makers as they draft new rules and regulations to meet current and future needs, Strauch said. "All of the western states have laws that protect existing uses. It's the way of the West. Only consumptive use can be transferred. The unused portion remains in the river to protect the downstream users."

Senator Louden said he has been working on these water issues for several years, and has been on the tour of the North Platte River reservoir system, but this is the first time he has toured this segment. He said he was impressed with the progress on Russian olive and other vegetation removal along the North Platte River.

"It was good for us to see the progress, and they told us how quickly the water had returned to the ground when the vegetation was removed. We were quite satisfied with what we saw of the work being done by the High Plains Weed Management Association. It will make it easier to continue funding for the project in the legislature," Louden said.

"We got some valuable information, and it was well worth the trip to western Nebraska," Louden said. "The senators were well received and now we can begin to write our reports."

The legislators were in the Panhandle for public hearings on Legislative Resolution 286, which focuses on return flows and their impact on surface irrigation; Legislative Resolution 366, pertaining to the impact of irrigation efficiencies on the state's water shortage; and Legislative Resolution 377 which deals with staffing issues and director qualifications of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources.