March 2, 2016 at 5:00 PM - Water Committee Meeting
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1. REGULATORY
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1.A. GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT AREA
Rationale:
Recently we had a inquiry from John Wotipka's lawyer asking whether or not Mr. Wotipka had to refile his variance request. We replied no that it still was on file. We have discussed this several times during the Water Committee but staff can find no record that a motion was passed to this effect for all un-approved variance requests. A motion is needed to formally approve the system we have used for the past three years.
Recommended Motion(s):
*Unapproved Variance Requests for new irrigated acres in any given year will automatically by carried over to subsequent years provided the applicant wishes the variance request to be carried over, the information on the original variance request is still current or the Board of Directors has not rescinded this motion Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
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1.A.1. Well Permit Program
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1.A.1.a. Well Permits Approved
Rationale:
Wells Permits Approved: 0
The total number of approved permits for 2016 is 1 Location of Approved Well Permits for 2016: Correct as of 3/2/2016
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1.A.1.b. Fremont Family YMCA Dewatering Well
Rationale:
The Fremont Family YMCA has applied for a new dewatering well in the NE 1/4 NW 1/4 Section 24-17-8E Fremont Subarea, Dodge County. The well will be used for initial construction and on a permanent basis when the draining the pool. The water will be discharged into the storm drain. Currently the well permit is incomplete, such as the gallons per minute that the well would pump is not listed on the permit. This may be reviewed again at the Board meeting if the permit has been completed by that time.
Attachments:
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1.A.2. Special Quantity Subareas
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1.A.2.a. Butler - Saunders SQS (SQS #1)
Rationale:
Angle has developed a calculation spreadsheet in Excel software that looks at the water used in previous years to figure next year's allocations and to work with their individual flow meter reading. In SQS #1 the breakdown is as follows: Total number of wells = 30 Number of wells with no meters = 5 (Producers signed a pledge in 2015 that they would not use the well until a meter is installed. One well has no pump.) Number of wells with meters = 25 (meter in acre inches = 16 / meter in gallons = 9) Acre inches used in 2015:
An individual water use report will be sent to each well owner in this SQS area showing past water use and their remaining allocation. Rolling allocation is 27 acre inches over a three year period.
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1.A.2.b. Platte - Colfax SQS (SQS #2)
Rationale:
Platte - Colfax SQS
293 letters were mailed to producers, landowners, and tenants (mailing address information from the Acres Certification database).
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1.A.3. Lower Platte River Basin Water Management Plan Coalition (LPRBC)
Rationale:
No new update
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1.A.4. Voluntary Integrated Water Management Plan - LENRD and LPNNRD
Rationale:
Angle met with Amy Zoller of DNR on February 25th to review the Goals and Objectives of our V-IMP. After these are approved we plan to take these back to the Stakeholders Comm. The draft version for the V-IMP Plan is attached. Water Committee members urge all Board members to read/review the V-IMP plan.
Attachments:
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1.A.5. Cost Share Programs
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1.A.6. Bellwood Phase 2 Area
Rationale:
2016 is the fourteenth year for this Phase 2 Area. This area was reduced from 32 sections to 21 sections in 2015 - to be in compliance with Section G Ground Water Quality Management Area - Phase Two Rule 1 Phase Two Criteria. 133 reports for the 2015 crop year have now been received. Four completed fertilizer reports have still not been received and the deadline was December 31, 2015.
Two reports have not yet been received from Steve Semin. Semin was the last one to submit his reports for the 2014 crop year. The U S Postal Service has attempted to deliver the certified letter to Steve Semin. If he hasn’t signed for it by March 8, 2016, it will be returned to sender (LPNNRD). Steve Semin called Oaklund on March 2nd at noon and indicated that he had now signed for the certified letter. A signed certified receipt card has been received from Kreikemeier. Incomplete reports for his two tracts listed above were received in the mail on Monday, February 29, 2016. Oaklund spoke with Kreikemeier on the phone on Monday February 29th. Kreikemeier contacted a Director from the Bellwood area and the Director called Oaklund regarding this matter.
Steve Semin and Gary Kreikemeier are habitually late on turning in their fertilizer reports.
Recommended Motion(s):
*To send certified letters to Steve Semin and Gary Kreikemeier prior to board meeting informing them that completed fertilizer reports need to be submitted to the LPNNRD by March 9, 2016 or a cease and desist order will be issued at the March 10 Board Meeting and that their future fertilizer reports are due on December 31st of each year or a cease and desist order will be issued at the next LPNNRD Board Meeting. Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
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1.A.7. Richland - Schuyler Phase 3 Area
Rationale:
2016 is the first year of this Phase 3 Area (to be in compliance with Section H Ground Water Quality Management Area - Phase Three Rule 1 Phase Three Criteria). This Phase 3 area went into effect September 1, 2015. The 55 sections of this area first went into a Phase 2 Area in 2004. 407 reports for the 2015 crop year have now been received. 22 reports were received from Dan Zoucha on February 24th. |
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1.A.8. Richland - Schuyler Phase 2 Area
Rationale:
On September 1, 2015, the ten sections immediately north of the Phase 3 area became a Phase 2 Area. These sections are: Township 18 North, Range 2 East, sections 31 to 36; Township 18 North, Range 3 East, sections 31 to 34. Soil samples and water samples are required for 2016.
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1.A.9. LPNNRD Certification
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1.A.9.a. LPNNRD Operator Certification Classes
Rationale:
Four on-line test requests have been made since the last committee meeting (one of these requests was yesterday March 1st), but no on-line tests were completed. Half of the twelve scheduled classes have been completed. Two classes are scheduled for later this week.
A total of 119 have been certified with 13 for the first time. |
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1.A.10. Certifying Acres
Rationale:
Landowner Brach Johnson has contacted US House Representatives, US Senators and NE State Senators about his case of the LPNNRD de-certifying his property of 32.8 acres in the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 7, T18N, R2E Colfax County. This land has never been irrigated and currently is in the Platte - Colfax SQS subarea. Information has been sent to each of these political offices.
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1.B. CHEMIGATION
Rationale:
So far for 2016 we have 515 permits on file and 1 new permit application. Renewal forms will be mailed out in mid-March with renewals due by June 1st. The cost of renewals is $30. Attached is the Chemigation summary for 2015, which includes a list of chemicals used in 2014. Nitrogen is still the most chemical used.
Attachments:
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1.C. LIVESTOCK WASTE PERMITS
Rationale:
The LPNNRD has received one livestock permit applications from DEQ since the last Water Committee meeting.
Linwood Pig permit is a transfer permit request to new ownership of an existing operation previously owned by ONeill Farms - Star Breeding. |
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2. GROUND WATER PROGRAMS
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2.A. DECOMMISSIONED WELL PROGRAM
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2.A.1. Well Estimates
Rationale:
Two new wells has been reviewed and approved by Gottschalk for decommissioning since the last Committee meeting.
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2.A.2. Plugged Wells
Rationale:
One well has been plugged, reviewed, and ready for cost share payment approval this month.
Recommended Motion(s):
* To approve payment of $243.75 to Rita Divis to decommission a domestic well Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
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2.B. LOWER PLATTE NORTH NRD GROUND WATER STUDIES
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2.B.1. Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (ENWRA)
Rationale:
Test hole drilling is to start later this week in LPSNRD. Several sites are planned for LPN but details still need to be worked out.
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2.B.2. Water Conveyance Study
Rationale:
LPSNRD plans to submit a grant request to the Water Sustainability Fund (WSF) concerning a study to look at water conveyance from upper portions of the Lower Platte River Basin to the lower reaches of the river past the Lincoln and Omaha municipal well fields (see attached sheet). A dollar figure has not been established yet. Committee members discussed the details, merits, and potential cost of this study. This study could aid funding of the construction cost of a potential storage reservoir near Octavia for future irrigation, offsets, and/or recreation if this is a viable site.
Recommended Motion(s):
To state that Lower Platte North NRD would be interested in Lower Platte South NRD pursuing a grant request to the Water Sustainability Fund to address the ability of water from other portions the Lower Platte River Basin to convey water to the lower reaches of the basin, contingent on the overall cost of the study Passed with a motion by Board Member #1 and a second by Board Member #2.
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2.B.3. Potential Reservoir Siting in LENRD
Rationale:
A Joint Funding Agreement between LPS, LPN, Papio, and LE NRD's is being proposed to site potential storage projects within the LENRD for later release of water to benefit the Lower Platte River Basin. $5,000 is being requested from LPN, LPS, and Papio NRD's with the balance of the study to be paid by LENRD. Since the water inventory reports (as part of the V-IMP) for LPN and LE NRD's included such siting, not sure if this study is needed. Staff will contact LENRD for more information by the March 10, 2016 Board Meeting. |
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2.C. GROUND WATER ENERGY LEVELS
Rationale:
Staff will start the spring readings of our GWEL network wells later in the month of March.
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2.D. FORMER ORDNANCE PLANT NEAR MEAD
Rationale:
Attached are the latest flow recorders from the Corps of Engineers on the clean up efforts at the Former Ordnance Plant near Mead (see attached). This pumping is year round and is roughly equivalent to 50 to 60 center pivots pumping water over the summer. In relation to Platte River flows this is not a significant amount, but it should still be noted as a kind of stream augmentation project by the LPNNRD because ground water is being contributed to the river at least 9 months out of the year.
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3. OTHER
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3.A. GMDA SUMMER SESSION
Rationale:
The GMDA Summer Session is being scheduled for June 29 to July 1, 2016 in Yakima WA. No other details are yet available.
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3.B. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Rationale:
Mary Wotipka addressed the Water Committee again asking when John Wotipka request for new irrigated acres would be approved. A variance request has been submitted but this land is within the restricted development area but ~one mile from the border of the hydrologically connected area. It has not ranked high enough for recent approvals. ============================ The following information is from the December 30, 2013 Water Committee minutes. John Wotipka is seeking to expand his irrigated acres in the Restricted Development Area (RDA) eight years after his initial approval in 2005 of NRD well permits and the State well registration (for details see attached sheet). Wotipka and members of his family were present at the Water Committee meeting and stated that when the wells were originally registered additional acres were allotted to each permit to allow for this future expansion and these should still be allowed. The LPNNRD position is that since this full expansion did not occur in 2006, the LPNNRD well permits, the State (DNR) well registration and the County Assessor Records should have been updated to reflect the actual acres being irrigated, but this was not done. The District also required a variance application for expansion of acres in this RDA starting in 2008 and no variance was filed with the NRD. It was recommended by Johannes, seconded by Pollard, to deny the expansion of irrigated acres for well G-095822 and well G-136546 beyond the number of acres actually irrigated by each well in 2006. Recommendation Carried.
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