News Release from
The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District

Date: April 1, 2011
Contact: Tim Anderson, Public Relations Manager
Phone: (308) 995-8601

April Board Meeting Summary

(HOLDREGE, Neb.) -- The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District's board of directors voted unanimously at Friday's monthly board meeting to withdraw its petitions for contested case hearings regarding basinwide integrated management plans (IMP) filed in 2009 with the Nebraska Department of Water Resources.

In light of recent rulings by district courts and the Nebraska Supreme Court that Central did not have standing to represent the interests of its irrigation customers in similar cases, Central's management recommended to the board that continued efforts to secure contested case hearings on the DNR's basinwide IMPs would likely be unsuccessful.

General Manager Don Kraus said Central remains concerned about some provisions in LB962, which was passed by the Nebraska Legislature in 2004 in an attempt to prevent or resolve conflicts between surface water and groundwater users.

"However, we will continue to focus on other areas," Kraus said. "They still haven't completed requirements to calculate the difference between fully appropriated and over-appropriated designations as required by statute. This is an important component of the IMP that hasn't been completed more than 18 months after adoption of the IMPs and we're going to continue to pursue this issue with DNR and the Natural Resources Districts."

Secondly, Kraus said, Central will continue to communicate with the Legislature and work on ways to improve the law set up by LB962 to gain more protection for surface water interests. Furthermore, he said, Central will continue to argue for reasonable restrictions on upstream groundwater use in non-judicial forums.

Also at Friday's meeting:

• John Lawson, manager U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Wyoming Area Office in Casper, joined the meeting via conference call to report on water supply conditions in the North Platte River Basin.

Lawson said the current snowpack accumulations in the upper North Platte Basin (above Seminoe Reservoir) are 140 percent of average and 115 percent of average in the lower basin (between Alcova and Glendo reservoirs). Projections for runoff from the snowpack during the April-July period exceed 1.4 million acre-feet of water, while the 30-year average runoff is 714,000 acre-feet. Last year's total runoff in the basin was 1.2 million acre-feet. Inflows this year at the Wyoming reservoirs will likely rank among the top five highest on record.

Currently, he said, the Bureau's reservoirs in Wyoming are 77 percent full, 128 percent of average for this time of year.

"We are trying to evacuate as much water as we can ahead of what looks to be extremely high snowmelt runoff," Lawson said. "What we don't know at this time is how quickly the snowmelt will occur, how much more accumulation of snow we'll receive, and how much rainfall will occur in the area in addition to the runoff."
Current flows in the North Platte River at the Wyoming/Nebraska border are above 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs), much higher than normal for this time of year, he said.

"We're trying to move about 400,000 acre-feet out of the system in during March and April, which is going to result in high flows along the North Platte River," Lawson said.

Another wildcard, Lawson said, is what happens at Grayrocks Reservoir on the Laramie River, a tributary of the North Platte River.

"My understanding is that Grayrocks is about 90 percent full, so if they have to start passing water it will just add to the situation on the North Platte," he said. "We may have to cut back releases from our reservoirs to avoid additional problems downstream."

Lawson said irrigation canals in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska have started diverting water -- earlier than normal -- from the river to help reduce high flows.

That will help some, he said, but the canals have limited capacities and the how quickly those diversions will affect return flows to the river is unknown.

At Lake McConaughy, Central has been releasing higher than normal flows for this time of year to make room for the expected inflows. Civil Engineer Cory Steinke said the lake is at elevation 3255.4 as of Friday, less than five feet from the maximum storage level permitted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) prior to April 25. The elevation restrictions begin to gradually increase after April 25 to a maximum elevation of 3265.0 feet.

Central has petitioned the FERC for permission to termporarily exceed the normal allowed maximum storage elevations, but such permission has not yet been received.

"There's just a lot of water coming downstream," Steinke said, "and we're doing everything we can to minimize the impact."

• The board approved an amendment to the 2011 budget to add $60,000 for a study of a siphon on the E65 Canal by HDR Engineering. A recent inspection revealed a segment where the thickness of the siphon's steel walls has diminished to the point that plans are being made to reinforce a 10-foot section of the siphon. The 1.1-mile-long siphon carries water beneath canyons and Plum Creek to Elwood Reservoir.

"This will be a short-term repair in preparation for the coming irrigation season," said Irrigation Division Manager Dave Ford. "The additional studies are necessary in order for us to gather the information needed to address the siphon's long-term status. We need to look at all facets of the issue before determining a course of action."

Two other shorter siphons in the same stretch of the canal will also be included in the study.

• The board also approved an addition of $29,500 to the budget to pay off Sanitary Improvement District assessments for two lots at Johnson Lake that were relinquished by leaseholders. The former leaseholders did not pay the assessments prior to abandoning the lots.

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