Friday, May 09, 2008

By SANDRA HANSEN
Ag Editor

Just about every aspect of water was discussed during Tuesday's North Platte River Basin Water Policy Conference. All that is, except rain, a scarce commodity in the region for the past eight years or so.

From the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program to climate changes and coal bed methane water issues, presenters explained the status of a variety of programs and their possible impacts on water in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska.

Of major importance to water users along the North Platte River is the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program, which established rules and regulations for future water management. The plan was approved about a year ago, and is moving forward under the leadership of Executive Director Dr. Jerry Kinny, who reviewed progress to this point.

"Whatever we're doing, we want to make sure at the end of the day, it means something," Kinny said of efforts of the three states and the U.S. Department of the Interior in implementing the program. The plan will provided habitat for four endangered species in central and eastern Nebraska, while maintaining the economic integrity of communities that rely on the Platte River.

Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming signed the agreement and committed to sharing the responsibility for making it successful. During Tuesday's meeting, Mike Purcell, director of the Wyoming Water Development Commission, and Jennifer Schellpeper, a natural resources specialist and hydrogeologist with the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, explained each state's accomplishments in meeting their obligations to the program.

Wyoming has appropriated $6 million as its cash contribution, and is funding the Pathfinder Modification project that will restore 54,000 acre-feet of storage in Pathfinder Reservoir. The water is part of the state's obligation to the plan. It is also meeting requirements to mitigate new depletions since July 1, 1997, and monitor other water uses per the PRRIP and the court settlement of 2001 between Nebraska and Wyoming. For its part, Nebraska is working on its new depletions plan and monitoring uses and consumption in over-appropriated and fully-appropriated areas. The PRRIP contains similar requirements as Nebraska LB 692, Nebraska's most recent water law. Nebraska has until the end of 2008 to complete its obligations to the plan. It as no cash obligation and the land and water in the Central Platte are counted as part of Nebraska's obligation.

Although both states are making progress in meeting the requirements of the PRRIP, the federal funding for the project is hung up in the U.S. Senate after being passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The Wyoming coal bed methane gas situation and its possible impact on the surrounding area was explained by Ginger Paige, assistant professor of water resources, the University of Wyoming. Jim Cannia and Steve Peterson, both geologists with the USGS in Nebraska, explained their studies on canal leakage in western Nebraska and the development of models to help form future water policies.

Wyoming State Climatologist Steve Gray offered little hope for a wetter year, and John Lawson, western area manager of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Mills, Wyo., said it is too early to make any significant forecasts for the coming irrigation season.

"We're far from being out of the woods," Lawson said, after explaining how the average inflow in the North Platte River reservoir system has declined by 10 percent since 2001.

Noting the variety of issues faced by the region's water users and the lack of answers to most questions, conference moderator Dean Yonts, Extension irrigation engineer at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, said, "It's in your best interests to stay involved."

Water users, either agriculture, municipal, recreational or industrial, will have an opportunity next month to hear the latest Bureau forecasts. Lawson will hold the North Platte River area spring water meeting on April 15, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff.