News Release from
The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District

Date: May 5, 2008
Contact: Tim Anderson, Public Relations Manager
Phone: (308) 995-8601

May 5, 2008 Board Meeting Summary

(HOLDREGE, Neb.) -- The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's board of directors approved an agreement with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the Tri-Basin Natural Resources District that will lead to diversion of water to Elwood Reservoir when flows in the Platte River exceed target flows set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

The board took the action at Monday's monthly meeting. The diversions will also be subject to approval by the Central Platte Natural Resources District and the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. The agreement is in effect for the rest of the year.

"We're just so pleased that we were able to work with Central and Game and Parks to reach this agreement," said TBNRD Manager John Thorburn. "We all agree that it's an important need to put water into Elwood to protect the lake's fishery and economic benefits and to provide groundwater recharge for the area and recharge that will augment stream flows in Plum Creek and tributaries in the Republican Basin."

Some of the water that seeps from Elwood Reservoir finds its way from the Platte Basin to the Republican Basin. The State of Nebraska receives credit for water that moves from Central's hydro-irrigation system in the Platte watershed to the Republican watershed in the state's Republican River settlement agreement with Kansas.

Central will receive compensation from TBNRD and NGPC in the amount of $8.80 per acre-foot diverted to offset lost hydropower generation revenue if Central diverts water into Elwood Reservoir instead of passing it through the Johnson No. 1 and No. 2 hydroplants. The two agencies will split the costs equally.

To conserve water in Lake McConaughy, Central has not used Elwood Reservoir for irrigation operations since 2004. Central has worked with NGPC, CPNRD and DNR on several occasions since then to divert water to the reservoir when flow rates in the Platte River have permitted. In those cases, CPNRD and NGPC -- which hold instream water rights on the Platte River -- had to first agree to permit the diversions.

Central staff is hopeful that water will be available for diversion to Elwood later this month after FWS target flows in the Platte River drop to a lower level.

Also at Monday's meeting:

• Central is initiating a process to consolidate the irrigation offices and operations in Minden and Holdrege that will eventually result in the closing of the Minden office next year. The number of employees at the Minden office is down to five and Central is seeking ways to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.
Customers will continue to receive prompt and efficient service, said Irrigation Division Manager Dave Ford, and maintenance in the area will not be adversely affected.

When the transition is fully implemented, the Minden employees will report to the Holdrege office to begin the work day during the non-irrigation season. During irrigation operations, irrigation service specialists will go directly to their patrols in the morning.

Central will begin consolidating equipment and materials and transition through the process at the close of the coming irrigation season.

Central personnel met with civic leaders in Minden to make them aware of the plans to close the office, said Public Relations Manager Tim Anderson. Anderson said interest was expressed in possibly using the Minden property for community development purposes.

Central has maintained an irrigation and maintenance office in Minden since beginning irrigation deliveries in the early 1940s.

• The board passed a resolution formally requesting that the North Platte Natural Resources District enact interim measures to begin restoring flows in the North Platte River depleted through the use of hydrologically connected irrigation wells.

Central maintains that the wells intercept groundwater that would otherwise return to the North Platte River and flow into Lake McConaughy.

"Return flows are critical to Lake McConaughy," said Kraus. "The lake was built with the understanding that its water supply would depend on return flows from upstream irrigation projects. In addition to drought conditions, the lake now also has to contend with wells that intercept return flows to the river."

While Central's irrigation customers are facing their fourth consecutive year of water allocations, groundwater irrigators in all but the Pumpkin Creek watershed of the North Platte NRD are under no restrictions on the amount of water they can pump.

The resolution also asks the Department of Natural Resources to consult with the NPNRD to explore other measures that may help restore stream flows.

In addition, Central is asking the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee to explore legislation that would require and assist the state and NRDs to "act in a more timely fashion to resolve conflicts between groundwater and surface water users."

• Ford reported the results of Central's annual collection of data from its system of 160 observation wells throughout and adjacent to the irrigation service area.

Ford said the effects of last summer's generous precipitation and the accompanying reduction in irrigation demand contributed to general gains in the groundwater table over much of the irrigated area since the spring of 2007. He reported that 65% of the wells showed an increase of up to three feet. A handful of wells showed increases of more than three feet, while 11% were unchanged. Two dozen wells (15%) showed lower water tables, with an average decline of three-fourths of a foot.

However, Ford said, analysis of data since 2000 when the drought took hold showed declines in the water table were pervasive throughout the area.

Data indicated that 91% of the wells have declined since 2000, he said, with 39% showing an average decline of just over 10 feet. More than 23% of the wells had declines of up to three feet and 29% dropped from four to six feet.

The declines come as no surprise, Ford said, because Central has been delivering less water because of low supplies at Lake McConaughy and groundwater pumping has increased to offset the lack of rainfall and the shortage of surface water.

• Kraus reported that federal legislation to fund the Platte River Recovery and Implementation Program has been passed by the House and Senate and will be enacted upon President Bush's signature. The legislation will provide $157 million as the federal portion of an agreement to protect habitat for threatened and endangered species along the Platte River.

The original Cooperative Agreement among Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and the U.S. Department of the Interior was signed in 1997. The states and the federal government agreed to proceed with the plan in 2006. The states' contributions to the program will come in the form of land, water and money and will amount to an amount similar to the federal contribution.

• Civil Engineer Cory Steinke reported that inflows to Lake McConaughy remain at or near historic lows. The lake held 43% of its storage capacity at an elevation of 3223.7 feet above mean sea level on Monday. The lake is expected to reach its peak spring elevation soon, he said, unless water from snowmelt in Colorado begins coming down the South Platte River.

"If and when we get some higher South Platte flows, we can cut back on releases from McConaughy," Steinke said. "That would allow us to store a little more water in the lake before irrigation season begins."

Mountain snowpack conditions remain above normal in both the South Platte and North Platte basins, he said, but with Wyoming's two largest North Platte River reservoirs holding only 20% of their capacity, flows in the North Platte River are unlikely to benefit much, at least not this year.

"There's plenty of room to store all of the snowmelt runoff and more," Steinke said. "The good news is that there is apparently enough water for the (Bureau of Reclamation's) North Platte Project to deliver a 'hay run' this spring, which could help return flows to the North Platte a little bit."

• Catherine Giger is the new secretary in the Holdrege Irrigation Office. Giger, who had been a part-time secretary in the Bertrand office, replaces Brenda Johnson who resigned to pursue business interests in Bertrand.

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