The Lower Republican NRD is no longer a member of the Republican River Basin Coalition with the Upper Republican NRD and the Middle Republican NRD. At an emergency board meeting on April 9th, the Upper and Middle NRDs approved the withdrawal of the Lower Republican NRD from the Republican River Basin Coalition on that condition that the LRNRD is responsible for their proportionate share of past or future while they were members of the coalition.
Mike Clements, manager of the Lower Republican NRD, stated that the LRNRD board felt that the coalition hasn’t been able to function as it was intended to and that the LRNRD could better serve their district by serving on the Republican River Basin Water Sustainability Task Force, which was introduced by Senator Tom Carlson and approved by the legislature. Clements and LRNRD board member Marlin Murdoch have both had their names submitted to be on the task force, which will be appointed by Governor Heineman.
The Lower NRD has also purchased water from Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District. The water should show a credit for 7,000 to 10,000 acre-ft and was made available for purchase due to the damage of the dam at Hugh Butler Lake. The water will be on deposit and work with the yearly average for 2010 and the five-year average for irrigators in the Lower Republican NRD. By purchasing the water, this should help to keep the average high when dealing with the Republican River Water Compact compliance.
The purchase will cost the LRNRD $16.65 per acre-foot for a total of $116,550. The NRD will also pay for the interest due to Frenchman-Cambridge for surface water purchased in 2007 for a total cost $205,726.31. The cost of the purchase and the interest will be paid by occupation tax on irrigated acres, which was approved by the Nebraska Legislature through LB862. Clements said that the occupation tax can be as high as $10.00 per acre, but the LRNRD will not set that rate until probably August.
Groundwater use by irrigators in the Lower Republican NRD for the past three years is as follows:
County Average (Acre-Inch)
West to East 2007 2008 2009
Furnas 5.81 5.76 4.54
Harlan 6.72 6.20 5.49
Franklin 5.95 5.18 6.14
Webster 5.93 2.79 7.25
Nuckolls 5.48 2.46 4.83
Av. District Usage6.14 5.18 5.65
Irrigators in Furnas County of the Lower Republican NRD will have nine inches of water available to them this year, the same as last year.
Lower Republican NRD Board of Directors include Clark Andrews of Holbrook, Brian Holtze of Wilsonville, Bill Bose of Orleans, Marlin Murdoch of Orleans, James Moore of Bloomington, Matt Harrison of Naponee, Nelson Trambly of Campbell, David Bartels of Riverton, Terry Holt of Red Cloud, Roger nelson of Superior and Bradley Wulf of Red Cloud.