Ag producers need to report irrigated acres

CURTIS -- As a result of the recently settled Republican River Compact Lawsuit, all irrigators in the Middle Republican Natural Resources District must report their irrigated acres to the Middle Republican NRD Office by August 1. Well owners were sent information on this reporting process in June. The reporting of these irrigated acres will allow the NRD to determine total ground water use in the MRNRD portion of the Republican River Basin and to determine future water allocations. The MRNRD asks that irrigators report their current irrigated acres and identify any new acres developed for the 2003 crop year. This includes new acres brought into production or old irrigated acres brought back into production. County Assessor and FSA certification records will help irrigators with this process. What irrigators report to the MRNRD must compare with these two sources. Well owners were identified by well registrations on file with the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. If individual well ownerships have not been updated because of a land sale or transfer, MRNRD records may be incorrect. Any irrigator who received this information in error or who should have received this information and didn't are encouraged to contact the Middle Republican NRD office as soon as possible. Any irrigated acres not reported to the NRD in 2003 cannot be irrigated in the future. When reporting irrigated acres to the MRNRD well owners need to use an FSA aerial farm photo to identify well locations, sketch field locations and total acres irrigated, well registration numbers, identify which wells provide water to which fields and identify new acres for 2003. Anyone with questions or needing further information is encouraged to contact the Middle Republican Natural Resources District office in Curtis, 800-873-5613 or office@mrnrd.org.