The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District
presents

"Inside Nebraska's Water"
© 2010

Water in Nebraska
Rivers and streams are very important to Nebraska. Three major river systems, the Niobrara, Platte, and Republican - traverse much of the state, gaining streamflow from rainfall and groundwater aquifers as they move from the arid western to the wetter eastern parts of the state. Rivers support irrigation, power production, municipal well fields, aquifer recharge, recreation, and fish and wildlife.

Past Management
It is a scientific fact that ground water and surface water systems are “hydrologically connected” throughout much of the state. The amount of water in aquifers and taken from aquifers impacts the amount of water flowing in rivers and streams, and vice versa. Surface water and ground water in Nebraska have historically been regulated separately.

Nebraska’s surface waters have been regulated for more than a century according to the principal of “prior appropriation,” as set forth in the State’s constitution. Appropriators (individuals or organizations that have been granted a permit by the State of Nebraska to use water) must show that water is available from the source of supply before they may receive an appropriation and use the water. Senior appropriators have a “right” to use the water before junior appropriators when there is not enough water for all users. A junior user may not interfere with the water supply of a senior user, no matter how many miles apart the two may be. The regulatory system contains the means for resolving conflicts over limited supplies of water. It was intentionally set up to prevent excessive water development from depriving prior users of the supplies they needed and for which they had a right, thereby providing some measure of certainty for those engaged in the often arduous and expensive tasks of developing surface water projects.

Groundwater development in Nebraska was limited until the latter half of the twentieth century and it has historically been managed under the common law concept of “correlative rights,” which provides for a proportionate sharing of available supplies. Under this system, groundwater users were typically limited only by the capacity of their wells and the needs of their crops. Groundwater regulations dealt primarily with local issues, such as well spacing or aquifer declines. Groundwater regulations did not take into consideration the protection of rivers and streams and their associated uses.

The unfortunate consequence of having two separate sets of regulations -- one for surface water and one for groundwater -- for a single resource is that excessive groundwater use is depleting rivers and streams and harming senior surface water appropriators in some parts of the state.  The problem is most pronounced in the western part of the state where the supply of water is the least and the demand for water is the greatest. Problems exist today because the connection between surface water and groundwater was not well understood when regulations were developed. These problems need to be addressed and resolved so that these two systems can work together for the greater good.

Changes in Integrated Management
With LB108 in 1996, Nebraska legally recognized the connection between ground water and surface water and gave Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) some tools that would allow them to manage groundwater uses with streamflow in mind. In addition, the passage of LB962 in 2004 required identification of fully appropriated and over appropriated streams, and the development of integrated management plans. Despite these first steps, there is little evidence to suggest that the current set of rules is likely to appreciably change the amount of groundwater use.  Nor are current laws likely to provide any real relief to injured appropriators in areas where groundwater use far exceeds the available supply and where stream depletions from groundwater use are adversely impacting water users outside of the local area.

Much of the framework for appropriate integrated management in Nebraska already exists. The state and NRDs together have the ability to estimate how much streamflow may be depleted by certain amounts of groundwater use. Surface water users, groundwater users, and others with interests in water supplies can work together to identify competing water needs. The NRDs are uniquely qualified to decide which management tools would work best when managing a limited supply. However, a few important issues must be addressed if integrated management in Nebraska is to succeed:

Sustainability
Use of hydrologically connected groundwater should be at levels that sustain -- over the long term and through both wet periods and drought -- not only local aquifer levels and local wells, but also streams, rivers and downstream uses.

Matching Use to Supply
Proper management of a limited resource logically requires that use reflect the limited supply rather than the demand. Where water supplies are limited, the amount of groundwater use should be limited to reflect the limited supply, rather than setting allocation according to the crop demand. Likewise, groundwater uses may need to be reduced -- rather than allowed to increase -- during periods of extended drought, in much the same way that some surface water uses are reduced when stream flows decline.

Respect the Rights of Appropriators
Where possible, efforts should be made to prevent or minimize impacts to appropriators, and restore water that has already been taken away. There may be times when this is not possible or practical, or when it is decided that it is in the public interest for an amount of groundwater use be allowed regardless of the impact to appropriators. Though appropriators may prefer to retain the use of the water, they should at least be compensated if their supply is reallocated to some other use.

Obligation to Perform
It is not enough that those responsible for making integrated management decisions have the option of doing the above listed items. Rather, it must be a requirement that they do these things. Without a duty to perform all of these items, it would not be reasonable to assume that elected local officials or appointed state administrators will make the difficult decisions necessary to truly resolve Nebraska’s integrated groundwater problems.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS