News Release from
The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District

Date: Oct. 1, 2007
Contact: Tim Anderson, Public Relations Manager
Phone: (308) 995-8601

October Board Meeting Summary

(HOLDREGE, Neb.) -- The Central District Water Users formally presented a resolution to The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's board of directors Monday encouraging Central to "pursue the concept of implementing groundwater recharge fees as a method to equitably distribute the cost" of benefits provided by Central's irrigation project in conjunction with consideration of an irrigation service rate increase.

CDWU President Dave Dahlgren and Vice President Tom Schwarz represented the irrigation customers' organization at Central's monthly meeting.

Schwarz said that ideally Central could work with the Tri-Basin Natural Resources District to develop an equitable, conjunctive-use plan of groundwater fees that takes into account the significant benefits to the area's groundwater supplies from the delivery of surface water to the area.

"It is important that everyone in this area understands the importance of surface water irrigation to the three-county area, and not just to those who take Central's water," Schwarz said. "If those surface water deliveries end or are continually reduced, that big blue area on the maps will eventually turn red like you see in southwest Nebraska."

Schwarz was referring to groundwater maps prepared by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Conservation and Survey Division that depict a blue-shaded groundwater "mound" that has developed beneath and adjacent to Central's irrigation service area over the past 60 years as a result of surface water deliveries. The increases contrast with sharp drops in the water table -- represented on the CSD maps in shades of red -- in other parts of the state that rely heavily on groundwater irrigation without the benefit of recharge from irrigation projects.

Dahlgren said the resolution was prompted by a proposal during Central's July board meeting by Director Robert Johnson of Hastings to investigate irrigation rate increases as a means of offsetting recent budget deficits.

Low storage levels at Lake McConaughy, Central's main storage reservoir, over the past six years have reduced Central's revenues from the production of power at its four hydroelectric plants. The water shortage has also resulted in three consecutive years of below normal deliveries of water to irrigation customers, with a fourth year of reduced deliveries scheduled for 2008.

The CDWU resolution also recognized the need for Central to raise irrigation delivery rates to keep pace with the cost of operations and maintenance of the project, but stated that the costs associated with water delivery should be shared among those who benefit from project operations.

The CDWU representatives, like the majority of Central's customers, use both surface water and groundwater for irrigation and recognize the recharge benefits to the area's groundwater supplies. The resolution, they said, is intended to support the idea of spreading the cost among all irrigators who benefit from the water deliveries.

Central provides water to about 106,000 acres in the Phelps, Gosper and Kearney counties. According to the Nebraska Agricultural Statistics Service, there are about 470,000 acres irrigated by wells in the three counties. Most of those acres receive state-recognized recharge benefits from Central's canal system.

The concept of groundwater recharge fees first surfaced in the 1980s, but coincided with a period of plentiful supplies of both surface and groundwater.

But the situation has changed, Schwarz said. The delivery system has changed, the water supply conditions have changed, and there is better understanding and recognition of the connection between surface water and groundwater.

Schwarz said he was opposed to the idea of groundwater recharge fees when first proposed, but over the years has come to recognize the importance of preserving the District's delivery system that helps sustain the area's groundwater supplies.

The board deferred action on the proposed irrigation rate increase until the December board meeting to allow additional study by the irrigation committee and staff.

Also at Monday's meeting:

• The board approved an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that provides grant funds for installation of three automated gate operators on the E65 Canal. Central and the Bureau will split the $60,000 cost of retrofitting manually-operated gates with automated gates that can be remotely operated from the Gothenburg Control Center. The new equipment will improve water conveyance efficiency and conserve water.

• General Manager Don Kraus reported that signed agreements were received Monday from Lake McConaughy Lessees, Inc., covering lease fees for lake lots through 2017. The terms of the agreement are based on 5 percent of the appraised value of the lots with a three-year phase-in period.

The agreement sets fees for tier 1 lots at $1,000 in 2008, $1,500 in 2009 and $2,000 in 2010 through 2017. Lessees on tier 2 lots will remit $500 in 2008, $750 in 2009 and $1,000 in 2010 through 2017.

• The board awarded a bid for installation of a heating/ventilation/air conditioning system in Central's survey and irrigation offices in Holdrege to Durable Service, Inc., of Holdrege for $9,594.

• The board awarded a bid for mowing services at Johnson Lake to Eugene Corder of Johnson Lake for $6,500/year for two years.

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