WATER - A FRESH LOOK AT A TOUGH PROBLEM – THE WATER BALANCE APPROACH



Ogallala Aquifer

 I am not a water expert in any way. But I do know that water is extremely important to everyone in Nebraska. In the past, Nebraskans were fortunate in that we had just about all the water available that everyone needed. Well, that changed with the latest drought. Now, we have competition for limited water resources. Under the compact agreement, Nebraska must deliver sufficient water to Kansas for compliance, even in water short years. This has become an extremely volatile issue for everyone in the Republican River valley. On the Platte, the endangered species act will require an ever larger amount of water to meet compliance issues. In both cases integrated resource plans have been developed by the natural resource districts and the department of Natural Resources and if river flows are not sufficient, water limiting and irrigation shut-down is expected.


This course of action will end up having devastating results on the agricultural economy in Nebraska. In the Dawson Public Power service territory, the Platte River is considered over allocated from Elm Creek west to Southerland. If in a given irrigation season the quick response wells are shut down (those within 2 1/2 miles of the river), at today’s rates the District would lose $3.8M in revenues as a direct consequence of that action. Every rural Dawson customer and most businesses we serve in that portion of the valley will have substantial negative impacts as well. This appears to be the path we are now going down.

Recently, I had a chance to listen to a gentleman by the name of Frank Kwapnioski who is promoting a concept called the water balance approach to managing our water resources. This is not a new concept, it has been successfully used in China and elsewhere. In essence it takes all of the current data, water studies and water models currently being used and incorporates this information into a comprehensive basin wide approach to water management. It looks at all consumptive uses in the basin on all parts of the basin, not just irrigation and stream flows. This concept will look at all the water going into the basin, how that water is being used, and how much leaves the basin.

As I said at the beginning of this article, I am not a water expert, but I feel the path we are now on will lead to negative results for too many in my part of Nebraska. I believe the water balance approach to managing our water resources is fresh new look and deserves a fair hearing to determine its merits. It sure can’t hurt.

Robert Heinz, General Manager
Dawson Public Power District