News Release from
The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District

Date: Aug. 6, 2007
Contact: Tim Anderson, Public Relations Manager
Phone: (308) 995-8601

August 6, 2007 Board Meeting Summary

(HOLDREGE, Neb.) -- The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's board of directors passed two resolutions at Monday's monthly board meeting requesting actions that will protect inflows to Lake McConaughy.

The resolutions were directed to the North Platte Natural Resources District and the Twin Platte Natural Resources District, asking them to exercise regulatory authority over hydrologically connected groundwater in their respective districts to protect inflows to the lake from interference by groundwater pumping.

Central's board also asked the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the resolutions to condition any extension of a three-year period to develop an integrated management plan for the areas in the North Platte and Twin Platte NRDs upon the NRDs' agreement to have an action plan in place by April 30, 2008 which contains reasonable rules regulating the use of groundwater hydrologically connected to the river.

LB 962, passed in 2004, contained provisions requiring the DNR and involved NRDs in basins designated as either fully or overappropriated to jointly develop and implement an integrated surface water and groundwater management plan "within three to five years" of that designation. The deadline is approaching and both NRDs have discussed with the DNR possible extensions.

Such a delay, reads the resolution, would cause further harm to surface water appropriators, including Central's customers who have contended with reduced deliveries in each of the past three years.

Central has been pursuing remedies to low inflows to Lake McConaughy since drought and continued groundwater development began to affect river flows in 2000. In addition to conservation measures in the service area and significant reductions in hydropower generation that have reduced releases from the lake, Central has engaged in negotiations and initiated administrative measures to regulate groundwater pumping that is affecting river flows to Central's main storage reservoir.

However, as worded in the resolution, neither NRD has to this point "taken any reasonable action to regulate the use of hydrologically connected groundwater" affecting inflows.

Also at Monday's board meeting:

• The board awarded a bid for a salt cedar control project at Lake McConaughy to North Star Helicopters, Inc., of Jasper, Texas. The $630,000 project is intended to remove and control salt cedar vegetation that has proliferated at the lake since low water levels began to occur six years ago.

Funds for the project will come from a $347,883 grant to the West Central Weed Management Area, in which Central is a partner, and $225,000 in contributions from the Nebraska Attorney General's office, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Central. Central is also awaiting word on another pending grant application and efforts are underway to identify other potential sources of cash necessary to completely fund the project.

Central's Assistant Real Estate Manager Kent Aden said the project would involve use of helicopters to apply herbicide to areas infested with salt cedar, with additional chemical application from ground-driven vehicles. The intent is to contain and control growth of the plant species that has spread over approximately 3,340 acres at the lake.

Aden said salt cedar is a non-native plant that consumes more water than native plants. Thick stands of the plant crowd out more desirable vegetation, he said, with adverse consequences to water resources, wildlife habitat and recreation.

The project will proceed with areas identified by priority with the areas at higher elevations ringing the lake to sprayed be treated first. Operations are tentatively scheduled to begin on Aug. 15.

• The board received word that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a license amendment covering maximum operating levels of the canals and reservoirs on Central's system. The FERC also accepted the biological analysis of an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for revised operations for the Johnson No. 2 (J-2) Hydroplant. The agreement establishes parameters for hydroplant operations during periods when least terns and piping plovers are most likely to be nesting on riverine sandbars. The periods are identified as May 1 through May 30 and June 1 through Aug. 15.

Separate operating approaches will be followed from March 18 to April 30 and Oct. 17 to Nov. 10 when whooping cranes are most likely to be roosting in the Platte River.

The operating rules are applicable whenever low water supply conditions dictate that Central operate its hydroplants in an on/off sequence. Flows in the Platte River below the powerplant -- which is on the Supply Canal upstream from a point at which water can be returned to the river -- tend to increase when the plant is in operation, and decline when the plant is off line.

The board approved the agreement subject to legal review.

• The board accepted a proposal from the accounting firm McDermott & Miller to provide auditing services for Central's financial statements over the next three fiscal years. The fee for the annual audit shall not exceed $25,380.

• The board approved a one-year legal services agreement with the law firm of Anderson, Klein, Swan and Brewster of Holdrege.

• Civil Engineer Cory Steinke reported that Lake McConaughy was at elevation 3209.8 on Monday morning, 7.2 feet higher than at the same time last year. With the last two-week irrigation run scheduled to begin Aug. 7, releases from the lake will begin to decline as water in the Supply Canal lakes is used to finish the irrigation season.

Steinke said recent rainfall has delayed the need for water from Supply Canal lakes, including Jeffrey and Johnson. In addition, extra water has been available to divert into Elwood Reservoir.

As the irrigation season comes to an end, Steinke reported, releases from Lake McConaughy have been lower than projected. He attributed that to timely and generous amounts of rainfall in the irrigated area, higher flows in the South Platte River that could be diverted into the Supply Canal early in the season, and lower than anticipated river losses. However, he added, inflows to the lake have averaged about half of normal for the year.

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