Notice to Central District Irrigation Customers

To: Central Landowners and Tenants
From: Marcia Trompke, Conservation Director
Date: July 31, 2009
RE: Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP)

The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's AWEP grant proposal sent to Washington, D.C. in March was one of five in Nebraska and one of only sixty-three in the USA to be funded. AWEP is a new farmbill program within the NRCS EQIP program. This grant will set aside a pool of EQIP cost-share dollars for Central producers for five fiscal years, beginning in 2009. Eligible acres for this program are those in Lincoln, Dawson, Gosper, Phelps and Kearney counties that receive irrigation water from the Supply Canal, E65 Canal, E67 Canal or the Phelps Canal. This is a wonderful opportunity for Central irrigators individually and for the canal system as a whole.

The Central AWEP will provide cost-share to upgrade your open ditch or gated pipe systems to center pivots or sub-surface drip (SDI) and provide payments in 3 of 4 years to dryland farm pivot corners and/or no-till acres. This conservation effort will reduce the amount of irrigation water needed from Lake McConaughy annually on Central acres. It will also improve soil health and the quality of water recharging the Ogallala aquifer.

The cost-share dollars will help fund center pivots and sub-surface drip systems installed on one or two center pivot corners. A ranking system will be used, similar to EQIP but specifically designed for this Central AWEP. The highest ranked applications for 2009 will include a full circle pivot, either 2 SDI/2 dryland pivot corners or 4 dryland corners and a no-till commitment. SDI applications can either be 1 or 2 pivot corners associated with a new pivot application or 1or 2 corners adjoining an existing pivot with a dryland commitment.

Owners of two adjoining fields may apply together to upgrade to a center pivot; there is no penalty for multiple owner applications.

A short agreement with Central will also be needed to help meet the terms of the proposal and we will need to track our water conservation success. Application sign-up at the NRCS office is continuous and annual cut-off dates will be announced by NRCS. Cost share is available at an increased rate for beginning, socially disadvantaged or limited resource farmers.

Time is VERY short to the first sign-up cutoff date for 2009 dollars, due to the time needed to make the rules for a new farm program. Signup is set for your local NRCS office between August 3rd and 14th. Application cutoff date for the 2010 dollars is expected to be in February, 2010.

If you have an EQIP application at the NRCS office now, you may make changes to it if you wish. New applications will be ranked by the same criteria as those on file. If interested, please go to your local NRCS office to apply. We will work the hours necessary to complete the 2009 contracts.