Sign-up Begins November 1, 2023 for New Irrigated Acres

Landowners within the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (LENRD) will once again have an opportunity to apply for new irrigated acres. At their October 12, 2023 Special Board Meeting, the LENRD Board of Directors approved a sign-up period for Standard Variances, for new irrigated acres, beginning on November 1st and ending on December 1, 2023.

One of the primary responsibilities of Nebraska’s Natural Resource Districts is to manage groundwater to protect both its quality and quantity for all Nebraskans. “It’s very hard to be here and decide when it’s not just ag that we have to worry about – it’s everybody else. In the end, we have to see the big picture because, if we don’t, then we’re not doing our job as a NRD,” said Chad Korth, LENRD Subdistrict #1 Director.

Directors discussed amendments to the geographic eligibility map and to the evaluation score sheets for both the hydrologically and non-hydrologically connected portions of the District, as well. Directors reviewed a series of ten maps – with Value One being the most restrictive (whole district shut down) and Value Ten being the least restrictive (whole district opened).

The maps were produced from a composite of two factors: saturated sand thickness and transmissivity (T) of the aquifer. The resulting composite shows where the aquifer has more or less potential risk based on the transmissivity and total saturated sand.  The highest transmissivity along with the greatest amount of saturated sand would be the most favorable. 

“What we want to look at is what kind of geographic opportunity do we want to allow?” said LENRD General Manager, Brian Bruckner.

After much discussion, a majority of the Board supported the addition of the LENRD Phase 3 Area in the geographic eligibility map.  Arguments against were based on the need to prevent additional nitrate contamination of the aquifer, while those in favor cited the enhanced nutrient management opportunity if a landowner is allowed to irrigate. The final version of the geographic eligibility map will be a blended version of previous iterations that have been used for previous sign-up periods, combined with the newer composite version.   

Directors also approved changes to the scoring documents to address the category related to the stream depletion factor for locations that are hydrologically connected, and also for land that is adjacent to existing irrigated land allowing for completion of a 360 degree revolution of the center pivot irrigation system along with a change to the weighted average soil score to 80 points.

“A minimum soil score must be met in the soil conservation category for any standard variance application to be considered for approval, regardless of the total score,” Bruckner explained.

The LENRD Board approved up to 295- acre feet of new stream water depletions for new groundwater irrigation development in the Hydrologically Connected Area in the LENRD, and up to 2,500 acres of new groundwater irrigation development in the Non-Hydrologically Connected Area. The annual allocation for any new irrigation well will be 14 acre-inches. This allocation amount will replace and be applied to all previously constructed irrigation wells that are not currently subject to a penalty for non-compliance.

A map of the eligible locations will be available at the LENRD office in Norfolk and on the District’s website by Thursday, October 19, 2023, and application materials will be available immediately prior to November 1st. Excluded from consideration for this sign-up period will be any parcel of land located in any Quantity Management Subarea.