Legislature passes halfway mark

Last week the Legislature passed the halfway mark of this year's short session. This week is the last week of public hearings for bills introduced in January, so we will begin all-day debate around March 4.

Last week I had hearing for another one of my bills, LB1111. This bill is a very controversial bill that lays out a proposed 10-year plan to reach water sustainability in areas that are levying an occupation tax on the activity on irrigation.

LB1111 is an illustration of what can be done to ease the pain of Sen. Lathrop's LB1074 if it were to pass, which would allow for the reevaluation of the appropriation status of fully and over appropriated areas, like the Republican River Basin and portions of the Platte River Basin, by sound science instead of by designation.

If LB1074 would move forward, it would most likely be tied to the funding bill that resulted from the Water Funding Taskforce that also restructures the Natural Resources Commission.

Let me give you a little background history related to LB1074 and LB1111.

Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD) voted to be neutral on my bill, LB522 from last session that would have provided financial assistance for surface water (SW) irrigators who had all or a portion of their water taken from them for compact compliance by the state. NARD did testify neutral, but then lobbied behind the scenes to kill LB522 because of a lawsuit by irrigation districts. This was happening while, Speaker Adams held several meetings with both ground water (GW) users and SW users in hopes to reach a compromise.

Sen. Lanthrop had interest in this water issue and attended the meetings set up by Speaker Adams. He also toured our district visiting both GW and SW facilities throughout the area. From this investigation into the disagreement on LB522, he decided to draft LB1074 this year that would remove the statutory designations of fully and over appropriated areas to allow the reevaluation of the basin.

District 44, my district, is split on whether they like or dislike LB1074; I represent both groups from the Colorado border to the east boundary of Gosper County. The majority of SW in the Republican River Basin received 0-3 inches of water in 2013 and is expected to receive that same amount for 2014. These SW users went from approximately 10 inches to 0-3 in one year.

Let me give you an example of what I see as bad Nebraska water policy.

Harry Strunk Lake fills every year. The state designated 2013 and 2014 compact call years for compliance purposes. This is done through the integrated management plans adopted by NRDs and the Department of Natural Resources. Because of the compact call, SW irrigator's water was passed through the dam in 2013 and 2014. This reduces SW to 0-3 inches while allowing GW to pump 10-14 inches. SW continues to pay the same occupation taxes for irrigating the small amount of water, with no compensation for their water used for compliance.

LB1111 is an alternative plan to address the unequal treatment between SW and GW during a compact call year, since NRDs don't want to compensate SW for their water that was taken to meet compliance.

NRDs say that LB1074 and LB1111 would economically devastate the basin. What about the economic impact to the SW irrigator's operation when they go from 10 inches to 0-3 inches in one year? Yet, NRDs are complaining about LB1111's small incremental reduction of 10% of the needed reduction per year for 10 years to reach district and basin sustainability.

I have to represent my whole district. Should I try to find a way that requires shared sacrifice during a compact call year, or should one side get all the water, while the other bears the burden for the sake of convenience without compensation?

My approach in 2013 was LB522 that would have given SW some compensation for the water taken by the state, while allowing GW to keep pumping. However, like I said earlier, the NRDs through NARD did not support my idea and lobbied against it, not remaining neutral as their organization voted.

If you were me, how would you vote?

If you have any questions or comments, contact my office. Mark R. Christensen, PO Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, 402-471-2805 or mchristensen@leg.ne.gov.