Irrigators will be paid

One way or another, irrigators who sold their water for $9 million will be paid and property taxes implemented to pay for that purchase will probably still be collected, said Dan Smith, general manager of the Middle Republican Natural Resources District.

But when the taxes are distributed to the NRD's is still up in the air, he admitted.

Smith said Thursday that he believed the property taxes will still be collected but may not be dispersed, if a court files an injunction. Even if the funds are forwarded from the counties to the NRD's, the possibility exists that the taxes may have to be refunded, resulting in considerable expense and record keeping, he said.

He added that irrigators who sold surface water to the NRD's in June that was sent to Kansas will still receive their money, "even if takes bake sales," he quipped.

"I don't know how we cannot pay them," he said. "They delivered the product and we will have to pay them." Payment for the water is due by the first week of December, he said, according to an agreement with irrigation districts.

In a press release issued Thursday, Smith stated the water was not purchased because of the Republican River Compact.

"It is important that the public understand two very important points," he wrote. "Number one, the irrigation districts who sold their water to the NRDs are going to get paid and number two, the NRDs purchased water in order to maintain the economic activity of our basin and not to meet any requirements of an intrastate compact."

The NRD's were planning to pay for the water with a $9 million bond, issued by Ameritas Financial and to pay it back by levying additional property taxes on residents in the Republican River Basin, as authorized in LB 701. Yet the bonding company refused to issue the bond, citing a lawsuit that was filed in the Nebraska Surpreme Court by nine property owners in the Basin.

The Nebraska Supreme Court declined to consider the case and the lawsuit must now be filed in a District Court.

The lawsuit claims LB 701 is unconstitutional because it uses property taxes to pay for a state obligation, the 1943 Republican River Compact with Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.

But Smith said in his press release that if the state was asked to step in financially, it would lead to less local control and severe reductions in groundwater.

"To maintain that this is a state issue and that the state should take care of it financially is likely to result in a response from the state that could result in complete administration and nearly eliminate ground water irrigation. Only by having a local input and local controls can we maintain the maximum benefit to the basin. If Nebraska fails to achieve compliance with the Compact and Kansas pursues further litigation, the response from United States Supreme Court may very well be the stopping of all irrigation, both ground water and surface water, until the deficit is reversed. State control or court control of the resources of this basin cannot be to the benefit of anyone. We would hope that the plaintiffs give LB 701 a chance to work and protect the economic security of our basin."

Smith states that bonding authority allowed NRD's the opportunity to lease water or implement other programs to replace the impacts from ground water pumping and minimize the economic impact of regulation on ground water.

"The surface water we leased this year helps make up for the effects of drought in the previous water-short years from 2003 through 2006," he said.

Smith added that LB 701 had the support of the entire legislature, the governor and the NRDs and that many citizens preferred the legislation as an alternative to reductions in groundwater use.

"The bonding authority for the NRDs is the least painful because it still allows our farmers to achieve the maximum economic potential for their crops, " he said. "Irrigated agriculture is important to the entire basin. No one likes more taxes but the long-term impacts of severe water use reductions would have negative impacts across all segments of our population."