June 28, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Water Committee Meeting

Rationale:  An update on allocations and how they are calculated.
From GW Rules and Regulations 6/15/2018
Rule 4.2    Allocation
The use of Groundwater for agricultural purposes from any water well for irrigation or for the benefit of any Irrigated Acre in the Special Quantity Subarea shall be subject to an Allocation. Allocations shall be based upon a 3 year Rolling Allocation. The Board shall establish the initial annual allocation when establishing the Quantity Subarea. The Board shall thereafter establish the Rolling Allocation by December 15 of each calendar year. The Rolling Allocation shall specify the total number of acre-inches of irrigation water per irrigated acre for the rolling term. If the Board fails to adopt a Rolling Allocation by December 15, the Rolling Allocation for the following rolling three year term shall be 27 acre-inches per irrigated acre in this Special Quantity Subarea (the equivalent of 9 acre-inches per year of the rolling term). Rolling Allocations for any and all wells may be amended, reduced, increased, or made subject to limitations or conditions by the Board upon notice and hearing.

Example attached.

Five producers from the SQS #2 area expressed their concern about the 27 inch rolling allocation.  They felt the extra irrigation that was needed this year during May and June would curtail the amount of water needed to finish this year's crop if they are limited on water allocation. 

Committee and staff discuss the options on the allocation or penalty clause.  The committee felt changing boundaries and future allocations should be discussed this fall.  The committee asked staff to discuss the options with Jovan. 

A resolution was drafted.    

Rationale: 

Wells Permits Approved: #

Landowner	Number of Wells	Number of New Irrigated Acres	Type of Well	County	Subarea
Norman Heldt	1	0	Replacement	Saunders	Wann
The Nelson Blimp Co LLC	1	0	Replacement	Saunders	Wann
Audra Jedlicka	1	0	Replacement	Colfax	Schuyler
BEG LLC	1	0	Replacement	Saunders	Yutan South
Sunny Lea Farms Partnership	1	0	Replacement	Butler	David City
Ernest, Leo, & Francis Osantowski	1	0	Replacement	Butler	Bellwood

 

 

 

 

 

 

The total number of approved permits for 2023 is 24

Location of Approved Well Permits for 2023:  Correct as of 6/28/2023

County	Irrigation - New	Irrigation - Replacement	Stock	Commercial	Municipal	Other	Total
Butler	0	5	0	0	0	0	5
Colfax	1	4	0	0	0	0	5
Dodge	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Boone	2	1	0	0	0	0	3
Madison	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Platte	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Saunders	4	6	0	0	0	0	10
Total	8	16	0	0	0	0	24

 

Rationale:  The staff received 3 complaints and contacted the individuals.  

Rationale:  Samples kits are being sent in by producers with only 1 sample result being received.    

Rationale:  The technical group met on a Zoom call to discuss the database that was designed by HDR.  The group discussed the issues and errors received when data was uploaded.  
A brief discussion was held about adding new acres for the upcoming year.  Lower Loup is planning on not giving out acres with Lower Elkhorn and Upper Loup Boards having discussions.  

Rationale: 

For 2023, we have 642 renewals and 41 new permit applications for a current total of 683.  Inspections for 114 renewals and 31 new permits have been completed.

Rationale:  The staff has started sampling irrigation wells for nitrates and a few for pesticides.  The areas that the LPNNRD is concentrating on this year are State-wide network wells, Schuyler-Richland Phase Area and Shell Creek.    
At last month's Committee and Board meeting, staff informed the members that three communities, Lindsay, Newman Grove and Platte Center, had initially applied for a Source Water Protection Grant.  At the June Board Meeting, staff informed the Board that Lindsay had withdrawn their application.  The question was asked, as this area is showing increases in nitrate levels, what could be done to address the nitrate issue.  Part of the Source Water Protection grant was going to assess nitrate and vulnerability for each community.  The map attached shows the area that would be assessed for Platte Center and Newman Grove if the grants are approved.  In 2019, LPN received a grant to do nitrate assessment and develop a nitrate tool to consider best management practices in the current Nitrogen Management Areas.  If the grants are approved, the LRE firm proposes to fill in the gap for nitrate assessment and expand the nitrate tool through Shell Creek if the NRD is willing to complete the project for $25,000.  This tool would allow LPN staff to start education with producers throughout Shell Creek on the nitrate issue and what practices to consider.  This amount is shown as a budget item on next year's budget.  

Rationale: 

# of wells that have been applied for in the 2022 fiscal year. This is the list of applicants that have applied for cost-share assistance and are waiting for a well driller to decommission the well or a bill to pay for the work that has been completed.  A copy of the paid invoice is needed before reimbursement can occur.

 

Rationale: 

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

There haven't been any invoices submitted to LPNNRD in the last month for reimbursement.

# of applicants/wells that have been reimbursed for decommissioning during the 2022 Fiscal Year: 10 
Total amount reimbursed during the 2022 Fiscal Year: $11,604.58
 

Well Owner	Type of Well	Cost Share Estimate	County

 

Rationale:  Invoice for Flow Meter Costshare by Gary Baumert for G-004227 in Section 17-17N-4E, Colfax County.  This application was approved for $1,000 through the WSF grant, with the grant paying 60%.  
An invoice from LRE for $7,266.75 for Hydrological Assessment per contract is attached.  
Discussion on reporting dates to utilize the benefit of calculating nitrogen recommendations for producers prior to fertilizing.  At the present time, the rules say December 15, when producers just enter their numbers after the crop season.  To allow a more streamlined report, some changes would have to be made to the online reporting to allow a two-step process.  Changes to this online reporting site:

• Modification of the report submission to allow users to submit annual reporting in two parts and NRD approval.
• Allow the reporting year field to pull data into the current report
• Estimated water use from previous year's data
• Ability for producers to print a PDF.

Some updates would occur on the NRD production side also.  
A quote from Phoenix Webgroup is attached  for $17,270 to start the process.  Staff discussed the quote and the reason for updating the database to prepare for the functionality of the 2-part report.  

Rationale:  NRD staff have been working with UNL on setting up numerous sites for irrigation, nitrate and manure management.   Attached are pictures showing a zone map and the application of nitrogen on a manure field. The Board agreed to fund 2 applicator pumps for in-season fertilization.  Staff and UNL have set up a site with Lanny Schmid and Joe Birkel with an invoice attached for 1 pump.  The manure site is being funded by UNL by showing different rates of nitrogen with a manure base rate.  
A proposal is attached from Bruno - Platte County Extension person for coring fields for nitrate leaching.  He is working with Lower Loup and wants to add some fields in LPN District.  Bruno was present at the Committee meeting to explain the process.  He is planning on pursuing extra funding from Corn and Soybean Boards.  
A field with irrometer sensors and remote reads is a project within SQS 2 to assist in irrigation management.  An Invoice is attached from Klein sales on the equipment cost.  This is part of the LPN soil moisture program for sensors.,  

Rationale:  A meeting was held on June 8 to discuss current drought conditions.  Attached is a presentation from the Drought Center.  The plan is going on its 5-year review, so ideas were given by DNR on what updates might be considered.  (attached)

Rationale:  Staff continues to discuss options with the METOs and In-Situ companies on the issues of equipment failures.   
Attached is the invoice sent to METOs on what LPN staff feels was damaged because of the installation process.   
Additional attachments show the process and cost of repairing the dataloggers. 
Invoice Q-108476 from In-situ for $3,253 is the current invoice to replace 3 dataloggers that were not repairable.  
Staff went through the process of In-situ review and analysis of a datalogger and cable that can be repaired and the costs associated.  Discussion by staff and committee on the pros and cons of fixing what there is or just moving on to the In-situ company with their remotes, which the datalogger are from the In-situ company.  There is no guarantee that water is not already in the cable on the existing equipment, but going with In-situ will eliminate the need for repairing the cables with a male stripped and tinned 10-foot cable.  The METOs company has indicated that they are not going to assist in repairing the spliced cables.  The cost for the cable replacement plus other equipment is $35,559 at the present time.  To replace the METOs remote reading equipment with In-situ equipment would be about $70,000.  Utilizing In-situ would help with communication issues between 2 different companies.  The committee discussed cutting the NRD losses now as the METOs equipment will need to be replaced in the future as they wear out.  Some of the METOs equipment is going on 4 years with a normal lifespan of 7 years.    

The staff have received a quote from In-Situ Company for equipment, replacing 15 old dataloggers and allowing the NRD to keep the current 6 weather stations for $91,901.45.  Subscription cost is included in the quote. 

Recommend paying the invoice to In-Situ for $3,253 to replace three unrepairable data loggers.  

Rationale:  This week's beach Bacteria and Harmful Algal Bloom results are now posted on the NDEE web page (Current Health Alerts and Sampling Results For This Week). 

There will be 3 beaches on "Health Alert" this week. When a lake exceeds 8 ppb of microcystin it will be placed on "Health Alert".
 

Current Lakes on "Health Alert"
Lake	County	Microcystin (ppb)	Sample Date
Willow Creek Reservoir	Pierce	11.34	06/20/2023
Pawnee Lake	Lancaster	9.77	06/19/2023
Kirkman’s Cove Lake	Richardson	9.59	06/20/2023

A lake that is placed on "Health Alert" will remain under "Health Alert" status until it has tested below 8 ppb. If a lake is under a "Health Alert", signs will be posted recommending people avoid full body contact activities such as swimming, wading, skiing, jet skiing, etc. 
We have 1 beach with E.coli testing above 235 colonies/100 ml.

Lakes with High E.coli Bacteria
Lake	E.coli (mpn)	Sample Date
Fremont Lake No. 15 (SRA)	1120	06/19/2023

E. coli bacteria levels measured above 235 colonies/100 ml of sample are considered a higher risk for illness when swimming. Considering the more rapid changes in bacteria conditions, signs are not posted with these higher levels. Although, we want people to be aware of beach conditions and use their own judgment as to whether they use a listed water body.

This week, Willow Creek Reservoir in Pierce County, Pawnee Lake in Lancaster County, and Kirkman’s Cove Lake in Richardson County will be placed on Health Alert. However, Bluestem Lake in Lancaster County has been removed from Health Alert this week. While under Health Alert we recommend avoiding activities that would bring you into extended contact with the water: swimming, skiing, etc.

Have a great weekend!


Justin Haas
State Lakes Coordinator
Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
P.O. Box 98922
245 Fallbrook Blvd., Suite 100
Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-8922
Direct: 402-471-4224 | Main office: 402-471-2186
http://dee.ne.gov | Twitter | Facebook
 

Rationale:  The groundwater portion of the budget was distributed.