Candidates face off over water issues

State Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial and former state senator Tom Baker of Trenton faced off at a candidate forum Thursday, on how to address water issues in the Republican River Basin.

Both are running to represent Southwest Nebraska's 44th district.

The candidate forum was the final topic at the 2010 Southwest Nebraska Water Conference in McCook.

Christensen was elected to the state legislature in 2006. Baker served as state senator from 1999 to 2006, when he was term-limited out.

Sen. Christensen of Imperial stressed the importance of local control, with the legislature's role to provide options that natural resources districts can implement. Some of the methods he cited for compact compliance included moving water from one area to another and an occupation tax on irrigated acres, to help fund projects. But both would require a defined, comprehensive plan, he added.

"If we don't do this in a planned, pro-active approach, we won't keep our towns and communities as they are now," he said.

A simple decrease of pumping won't work, but an occupation tax would give irrigators a tool to use until technology catches up, he said, such as using drought-tolerant corn.

Baker emphasized that building coalitions with other senators was key to getting things done.

"The political reality to this ... is it's becoming more of a urban legislature," he told the crowd. Forming a consensus among other senators with similar natural resource districts can help.

Unity is imperative, he said, noting that the Platte River Valley and Niobrara River are facing some of the same issues as those in the Republican Basin. A funding source may be easier to find if problems in the Republican River Basin are the same as in other districts, he said, making it a state-wide issue.

As for augmentation, not only is it very expensive but that "it will be very difficult for one district to give up its water," Baker said. It would be better solved within the district, he believed.

Both indicated that shutting down wells in years designated as water-short would not solve the problem or be equitable.

Other options could be reducing pumping allocations, Baker said, or planting different crops. This would involve some pain, he acknowledged, but "sharing the pain" would be preferable than some being shut-off while others aren't. "If there was a painless solution, we would have found it by now," he said.

Baker also stated that he didn't want to rely on an occupation tax as a solution as it may not even be passed by the legislature.

Shutting off irrigation would result in huge economic difficulties, Christensen said. If the occupation tax is used, current allocations could remain in place and with a specific plan with the Department of Natural Resources, the area could be kept viable.

He stated that the state's position is that it helped the Basin in the past by buying water in 2007 to meet compliance and it doesn't want to spend any more money.

"You're going to have to choose between regulation or an occupation tax," he stated.

Currently, the occupation tax allowed under the water law LB 701 is being challenged as unconstitutional by a lawsuit pending in Lancaster Count District Court.

Christensen has introduced a bill this session, the priority bill of the Legislature's Natural Resource Committee, to revise the language concerning the tax, so NRDs other than those in the Republican River Basin can use it if their district is designated as fully or over appropriated.

The water conference was sponsored by the Middle NRD, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension (Red Willow), Republican River Water Conservation and Education Coalition and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.