Republican River water supplies adequate for 2019

A Republican River clean-up was conducted in 2011. A similar clean-up on the Medicine Creek feeding into the Republican River is planned for March.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

LINCOLN, Neb. — Water supplies in the Republican River Basin and water volume available in Harlan County Reservoir mean that 2019 will not be a "water short" year in determining compliance with lawsuit settlements of the 1943 Republican River Compact that divvies up the river's virgin water among Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas.

Avoiding a water-short year means that the Upper, Middle and Lower Republican Natural Resources Districts won't need to pump water from the NCORPE project before at least fall 2019. NCORPE — the Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement project in Lincoln County — pumps groundwater to augment Republican River water flows when they're needed to ensure that Kansas gets its allocation of water.

The last time the NCORPE acres were pumped was March 2017.

To further ensure compliance with the Compact, Twin Valley Weed Management is proposing to clean out nine miles of Medicine Creek from Medicine Creek Dam to the Republican River.

TVWM director Merle Illian told property owners at a meeting in Cambridge on Dec. 20 that the Nebraska Department of Agriculture will pay the costs of this project, which has awaited funding for several years.

The objective is to remove invasive herbaceous woody vegetation and dense stands of phragmites (common reed) that impede water flow, trap sediment and have the potential to change the course of the creek.

Starting in March, Frahm Construction of North Loup will clean out debris and log jams and remove trees leaning into the creek. Log jams are particularly worrisome under bridges and along the golf course in Cambridge.

For more information on the clean-up project, contact Illian at (402) 746-4558; or Tim Smith of Southwest Weed Management at (308) 737-7445.