December 30, 2020 at 7:30 AM - Water Committee Meeting

Rationale:  To table flow meter discussion until February Water Committee, so Committee could know if grant funding would be available.

Rationale:  Invoice is attached for $14,500.25 per contract.

Activities included: 

• Finalizing the tool input layers and incorporating the SWB model outputs; and,

Continued developed and refinement draft tool for upcoming demo to LPN water resource staff

Rationale:  327 kits were sent out in 2020.

Rationale: 

2020 is the eighteenth year for this Phase 2 Area. 

Year	Nitrate-nitrogen Range	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 0 to 8.0 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 8.01 to 10.00 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 10.01 to 15 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen greater than 15 ppm
2004	0 to 25 ppm	46.3% (44 of 95)	8.4% (8 of 95)	45.3% (43 of 95)
2005	0 to 25 ppm	47% (44 of 94)	15% (14 of 94)	38% (36 of 94)
2006	0 to 24 ppm	41% (29 of 71)	14% (10 of 71)	45% (32 of 71)
2007	0 to 31 ppm	48% (48 of 100)	9% (9 of 100)	43% (43 of 100)
2008	0 to 28 ppm	53.75% (43 of 80)	7.5% (6 of 80)	38.75% (31 of 80)
2009	0 to 22 ppm	45.5% (41 of 90)	15.5% (14 of 90)	39% (35 of 90)
2010	0 to 35.7 ppm	48.65% (54 of 111)	11.71% (13 of 111)	39.64% (44 of 111)
2011	0 to 26.6 ppm	51% (56 of 110)	6% (7 of 110)	43% (47 of 110)
2012	0 to 28.9 ppm	57% (61 of 107)	9% (10 of 107)	34% (36 of 107)
2013	0 to 25.8 ppm	50% (53 of 107)	9% (10 of 107)	14% (44 of 107)	26%
2014	0 to 22.3 ppm	51% (55 of 108)	13% (14 of 108)	18% (39 of 108)	20%
2015	0 to 32.3 ppm	43% (31 of 72)	8% (6 of 72)	14% (35 of 72)	33%
2016	0 to 35.1 ppm	34% (25 of 74)	11% (8 of 74)	26% (41 of 74)	26%
2017	0 to 23.5 ppm	36% (27 of 74)	15% (11 of 74)	19% (36 of 74)	22%
2018	0 to 30.9 ppm	40% (25 of 63)	11% (7 of 63)	22% (31 of 63)	28%
2019	0 to 24.5 ppm	46% (22 of 48)	10% (5 of 48)	28% (21 of 48)	22%
2020	0. to 20.5 ppm	34% (20 of 60)	13% (8 of 60)	35% (21 of 60)	18% (11 of  60)

All sample results from Lab have been received and sent to producer.  The final two (Nick Schmit) were this week.  
 

Rationale: 

2020 is the fifth year of this Phase 3 Area.  Attached is NRCS guidance on irrigation management cost-sharing.  Mark Walkenhorst attended the Committee meeting to explain the planning guidance along with answering questions.  Mark thought that a grant through NRCS funding could be available in 2021 to do Best Management Practices in an identified area like the Phase Areas.  The Committee thought the District should follow-up with Mark and look into this option for a joint project. 

The LPN contracted for $4,300 with EA Engineering, July 2020, on conducting additional vadose soil sampling on the demonstrations fields in the Phase Areas.  The samples were collected and sent to the UNL Water Center in November 2020.  An invoice is attached that was received on December 31, 2020.

Year	Nitrate-nitrogen Range	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 0 to 8.0 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 8.01 to 10.00 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen 10.01 to 15 ppm	Percent Nitrate-nitrogen greater than 15 ppm
2004	0 to 47 ppm	30% (42 of 139)	10% (14 of 139)	60% (83 of 139)
2005	0 to 120 ppm	31.3% (74 of 236)	10.2% (24 of 236)	58.5% (138 of 236)
2006	0 to 53 ppm	28% (50 of 181)	14% (26 of 181)	58% (105 of 181)
2007	0 to 99 ppm	32% (75 of 231)	10% (22 of 231)	58% (134 of 227)
2008	0 to 46 ppm	28% (53 of 190)	12% (23 of 190)	60% (114 of 190)
2009	0 to 57 ppm	33% (72 of 216)	6% (13 of 216)	61% (131 of 216)
2010	0 to 57.5 ppm	31% (70 of 229)	7% (15 of 229)	62% (142 of 229)
2011	0 to 65.8 ppm	28% (67 of 241)	9% (21 of 241)	63% (153 of 241)
2012	0 to 52.6 ppm	29% (70 of 241)	9% (21 of 241)	30% (150 of 241)	31%
2013	0 to 94.0 ppm	25% (63 of 252)	9% (23 of 252)	31% (166 of 252)	36%
2014	0 to 101.0 ppm	27% (68 of 251)	9% (22 of 251)	27% (161 of 251)	37%
2015	0 to 53.3 ppm	23% (55 of 238)	12% (29 of 238)	25% (154 of 238)	41%
2016	0 to 50.5 ppm	25% (58 of 228)	10% (22 of 228)	26% (148 of 228)	40%
2017	0 to 53.4 ppm	25% (60 of 238)	6% (14 of 238)	29% (164 of 238)	41%
2018	0 to 56.9 ppm	26.5% (50 of 189)	6.3% (12 of 189)	25% (127 of 189)	42%
2019	0 to 39.4 ppm	25% (53 of 209)	11% (22 of 209)	23% (134 of 209)	42%
2020	0 to 50.8 ppm	26% (69 of 261)	6% (15 of 261)	26% (67 of 261)	42% (110 of 261)

All sample results from Lab have been received and sent to producers.  The four Horejsi water samples were received in mid-December

Rationale:  First event will be January 12 in David City and then a virtual presentation on January 28 starting at 6:30 pm,  Topics for the meeting on the 28th will discuss split application of nitrogen, cover crops, manure management and UNL-NRD updates.  Committee wants to make sure that UNL manure recommendations are in step with NRD regulations.  Staff needs to keep the communication open with UNL.  

Rationale:  Attached is Summary Table along with comparison maps.  The only well to not be in the "Decreased" column was the Hanson monitoring well which had a decrease of 0.22’ so it was in the ‘Unchanged’ column.  
 
A couple of factors to consider regarding these water levels:

• Winter Storm Ulmer (Bomb Cyclone) in March 2019 - some fields not farmable due to the flooding, remained too wet, debris and sand to be removed, so well not used.
• Lack of precipitation during the growing season in 2020, particularly in August, early September, so ‘last irrigation’ went longer.

Rationale: 

# new wells has been reviewed and approved for decommissioning since the last Committee meeting.

Rationale: 

# wells have been plugged, reviewed, and ready for cost share payment approval this month.

Well Owner	Type of Well	Cost Share Estimate	County

 

Rationale:  Katie Cameron gave a report to the Water Committee, which is shown below.  Attached are the invoices for the $30,000 yearly dues and Geo-Cloud $3,400 per contract.  

Katie sent this information about ENWRA Activities.

2020 Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (ENWRA) Activities Update:

•             Coordination: routine administration, financial budget through Lower Platte South NRD, spring technical meeting, and website updates/Dropbox management (includes new 2020 AEM tab, video tutorials, new project info)

•             Assisted NRDs with prep and coordination of information for summer 2020 AEM  flights in Nemaha and Papio-Missouri River NRDs (included contacting local clerks with maps and dates, processing several sets of 2019 test hole logs into lithology summarized geophysical log scans w/ preliminary top/bottom of main aquifer units or Dakota calls).  Also assisted NeDNR with the upcoming AEM spotlight for the WSF storyboard for the Natural Resources Commission website

•             Answered over 20 public inquiries on the AEM datasets, NDEE and NeDNR interagency inquiries, private landowner inquiries on AEM, and several consultant inquiries/requests on AEM data coordinated through the NRDs.

•             ENWRA pilot site maintenance, transducer downloads, and sampling fieldwork for 78 pilot site wells. The Ashland pilot site has new replacement monitoring wells with transducers and dedicated pumps southwest of the former ASH01 location taken away by May 2019 flooding. Several older deep well pumps went bad at all three sites, possibly due to sedimentation or fouling of screens.  Several new metals parameters were added to ENWRA’s routing sampling list in 2020 as a one time recon effort. Compilation, graphing and evaluating of lab and transducer data for the ENWRA website (linked to our Dropbox:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kuq64jl1eqk27gh/AAB3PVFTBsK9_iLZ2_8Z-KZCa?dl=0).  Nitrate sampling was conducted at the  Firth shallow well for lab comparison to Aqua Troll 600 readings of nitrates every 8 hours (weekly lab samples collected in July and August 2020 to compare with Troll readings).  Nitrate sensors appear to only last 6 months from shipment according to discussions with in-situ and based on our graphed data, after a second round with a new instrument sensor, the aqua Troll study will conclude in July 2021 and it will be available to NRDs for future localized short term uses.  Pilot site sampling results for ASH Vadose Upland Site (monitoring well 55 feet deep) and the Mead area weather station specific to Lower Platte North is attached. Nitrate levels have dropped at the ASH Upland Vadose monitoring well location, the heat dissipation and aqua spy probe control box installed with it in 2008 was irreparably damaged by mice and will be decommissioned. Of the nine added parameters collected at the Ashland Vadose Upland site in 2020, Barium was detected at 0.263 mg/L (naturally occurring, 2 is the MCL) and Selenium and Uranium were reported at low concentrations.   

•             Water Sustainability Fund (WSF) Natural Resources Commission (NRC) Projects - Status reports due March 2021:

• Award #4125 - Secondary Bedrock Sampling and Age Dating: Chris Hobza of the USGS provided the results of this project to the group on December 9, 2020 via recorded Zoom https://www.dropbox.com/s/2qjklilixy3we6n/SecondaryBedrock_Dec_9_2020_Zoom.mp4?dl=0

The accompanying manuscript is in final review at USGS and will be posted on the ENWRA website. The sampling and Age-dating laboratory results are currently available on the  https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis database. This project will be closed out with a final status report to the WSF in March 2021.  

• Award #4164- the Nebraska GeoCloud (NGC): Jesse Korus debued the guidelines and standards for the online platform on July 1, 2020 (https://youtu.be/8YrPwk6lIm8 ). Additional to the several training sessions for groundwater professionals on the NGC and GeoScene3D held over the years, a "how to" webinar was provided on August 27, 2020 (https://youtu.be/xk09q4wJX3k). A small advisory group made up of project partners was formed to steer the continued use and further development of the NGC along with a two-year extension to the interlocal agreement for sustaining the NGC online platform through the 10 participating NRDs.  This Project and its benefit to constituents is expected to continue well past the final WSF close-out report anticipated on or before March 31, 2021.  

•             Downloaded and tested many datasets from NGC, created several AEM data Geoscene3D project files for each of the ENWRA NRDs including the Lower Platte North for use with the Nebraska Viewer Geoscene3D license to observe resistivity data along profiles without limitation of scales and perspectives like PDFs in reports. Made headway in creating master shapefiles and maps of the AEM flight lines for use with NGC and for the individual NRDs GIS mapping needs.
•             Upcoming: ENWRA updates to each of the NRD boards not caught-up in 2020, Coordinator will schedule meetings with water staff at each ENWRA NRD in January to discuss how ENWRA plans fit in and potential ENWRA grant applications for submittal in 2021.  
               
 

Rationale: 
Tom,

A few comments.

We will not look further at possibly using the Bellwood 5 H reservoir.

It is unlikely that we will look further at using the Bellwood 2 C reservoir. If we are able to firm this up prior to the 12/3020 committee meeting, I will let you know.

In regard to the irrigation well that we plan to use, it would be a primary source, not  a backup source, as far as using the water for dust control. The well is not in a special quantity area.

Steve
Steven P. Case
Attorney

Phone: 402.633.1479
Mobile: 402.681.6417
Fax: 402.952.1879
Email address: scase@mcgrathnorth.com

McGrath | North First National Tower | Suite 3700 | 1601 Dodge St. | Omaha, NE 68102


Steve,
 
As we discussed yesterday, on Monday, the LPNNRD Board did have some continued discussion regarding Keystone XL Pipeline’s request for pumping water (10.7 million gallons) from a Bellwood Watershed floodwater dam reservoir, for pipeline leak testing and dust control in 2021. This discussion also included the possibility of Keystone negotiating with a private landowner to pump approximately 8.3 million gallons of water from an irrigation well near the project area. While no formal decision was made, some concerns and questions were presented.  We are of the understanding that these water uses being considered are for backup purposes only, as Keystone is applying for a temporary pumping permit from the Platte River as the primary project water source. This permit is being handled by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NDNR).  To help sum things up at this point, below is a recap of what has been previously discussed and what future information will be helpful to LPNNRD.
 
Pumping from Bellwood Watershed Floodwater Retarding Dam Reservoirs
With regard to pumping from a Bellwood floodwater dam reservoir, most of these 13 structures in Butler County have reached or are nearing their estimated 50-year sediment storage life. This means the availability of surface water is greatly diminished as silt has replaced much of the originally designed permanent water pool in some instances.  As mentioned earlier, this is especially true for the 50-year old Bellwood Structure 5 H, which is located about 2 miles north and 3 miles west of David City.  LPNNRD holds landowner easements for operation and maintenance for the 13 dams, which includes holding the related impounded water rights.  In the past, we have not been involved with allowing third party water pumping from our dams and reserved these rights, on a limited basis, for landowner irrigation purposes who have permanent water located on their property.  As an example, in the 1970’s, LPNNRD did allow one of the original landowners at structure 5H permission to pump limited irrigation water for crops. However, it appears that this activity has not occurred for several years. It was mentioned at the Board meeting that silt would likely need to be dredged from 5H before pumping could be considered, but dredging is a very involved and expensive process that the LPNNRD hasn’t done previously.
 
Another structure discussed was Bellwood Flood Retarding Dam 2-C.  Structure 2-C is located approximately 2 miles south and 1 mile west of the town of Bellwood.  Structure 2-C’s embankment is located in Section 36, Township 16 North, Range 1 East, but the majority of the permanent water is located to south in Section 1, Township 15 North, Range 1 East. The structure was built in 1993 with a total estimated permanent water storage capacity of  391.5 acre feet when new.  If I calculated correctly, there would have been an estimated 127,570,666 million gallons of potential maximum permanent water capacity when constructed.  Now being 27 years old, it is expected that about half of the original permanent water storage capacity has been replaced by sediment.  Even for landowner irrigation, permits have been granted on a very limited basis and there are no active permits on any of our district structures that we are aware.  We are aware that many landowners use or enjoy the reservoirs for livestock water, recreation and aesthetic purposes.  That being said, LPNNRD is very sensitive on maintaining good public relations with landowners associated with these dams and they would need to be agreeable to any outside use being considered. They would also need to provide any ingress/egress on their property.
 
My understanding from the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NDNR) is that your client’s request would be for a one year temporary permit. Should the Board consider applying for such permit, it would be contingent on any NDNR and LPNNRD requirements and of course landowner concurrence.
 
Pumping Irrigation Water from a Private Landowner Irrigation Well
Considering the issues associated with pumping from one of the Bellwood dams, it appears using a private irrigation well for backup project use appears more probable.  In this case, Keystone would work directly with a private landowner to negotiate using water from their irrigation well.  LPNNRD would be less directly involved, but depending on where the well is located (i.e. a Special Water Quantity Area), we may need to work closely with the landowner and NDNR on the amount of water being used for this purpose.  
 
We are planning for you and any other representatives to join our upcoming committee meetings to discuss the Keystone Pipeline Project plans and water needs.  The Projects committee will discuss the water use request for our dams and the Water committee will discuss the water use from an irrigation well. Both committee meetings start at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, December 30, 2020. We will coordinate with you about Zooming in to both meetings at different times.  The full LPNNRD Board would then discuss the topic at their January 11, 2020 Board Meeting.
 
A few of the Board/staff questions or comments thus far are:        
 

1. More detailed information is desired about the entire project scope (miles of pipeline, location, schedule etc..) .
2. In the past, how has Keystone previously tested for pipeline leaks and controlled dust on other portions of the project?
3. Would the planned water use be in the vicinity of the project area, all within LPNNRD boundaries, or would water be pumped several miles away? This might be an issue if pumping water occurs from one watershed basin into another.
4. Is a water flowmeter planned to be used to track the amount of water usage?
5. How would water be returned to a reservoir after pipe testing and what amount or percent would not be returned (i.e. normal loss for testing and amount loss for dust control). It would be murky water for the testing so how would this affect your testing?  Returning it to the pond could change the water temperature which would be detrimental to fish populations. Also, would there be any residues in the pipe that might cause water quality issues?
6. With regard to water used from an irrigation well, how would that water be dispersed after use? Our assumption would be that the irrigation well water would be discharged over the surrounding land or to a tributary.  So how does that work and what precautions are taken not to cause erosion, water runoff and environmental impacts to other property in the area?
7. What happens if we experience a severe drought in 2021 and the pumping severely depletes available reservoir water?  In the case of an irrigation well, what happens if such pumping has an adverse effect on surrounding domestic or irrigation wells in the area?  
8. Would it be possible or needed to meet with Keystone representatives to tour the subject area in our District, to obtain a better mutual understanding of the proposed project? Granted, that might be somewhat challenging this time of time of year and with parties dealing with virus issues.

 
We will keep in touch and please let me know if have any questions.
 
Sincerely,
 
Tom Mountford
 
 Please let me know if you have any questions.
 
 

Rationale:  An agreement from USGS to continue partnering on 2 stream gauge sites at Shell Creek - Columbus and Wahoo Creek - Ashland, along with a dedicated monitoring well at Mead.  LPN share is $17,340.  These gauges are valuable in assisting LPN in flooding situations and during a drought.