Water transfer idea considered -- from the other end

One of the original proposals for dealing with the Republican River water shortage was transferring water from the Platte River basin to send to Kansas.

That idea didn't make it into LB701, but Republican River Natural Resources Districts were given the power to levy taxes and impose irrigation fees, with an eye toward increasing water flows.

Now the trans-basin transfer idea has come up again -- but this time it's the folks at the other end of the pipeline who are considering it.

It's definitely a long-shot, but selling water for the Republican River is one of the ideas the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District is looking at to increase its cash flow.

The Holdrege-based district has lost about 70 percent of its revenue because there hasn't been enough water in Lake McConaughy to turn the turbines to produce electricity for sale.

Board members have already increased land rental rates for people who own cabins at Big Mac and Johnson Lake, and will propose raising irrigation rates to as much as $27 an acre from the current $25.

They've talked about imposing fees on groundwater users, but that will take an act of the Legislature, which isn't likely to happen this year, and although studies show there isn't enough wind in the area, board members have also discussed getting into the wind-power business.

Upstream reservoirs are also empty, so it isn't likely enough precipitation will fall to fill them or Lake McConaughy.

Will the transfer deal ever go through?

With the current state of LB701 measures and the Republican River Compact, we won't rule anything out.

But the fact it is even being considered illustrates just how valuable a commodity water is, and the vital part it plays in our economy.