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S'Ign the atte deal
<br />:111thre'e-state Gov. Dave Hei- 3-state
<br />neman . signs a recogni
<br />Platte Riy,er agreement, in of river's
<br />thei?works for years, it not j
<br />is4??said that 1Vebraslca the bi
<br />wi'll'have surrendered
<br />to Gro' x?d
<br />"f"orces who seek "to ,?
<br />drag us back into the irrigators
<br />19tiYit century. pre-de- be ma?le-i
<br />delbpinent era." So .
<br />waxns a spokesman for.a group, of
<br />gx,o?yndwater irrigators.
<br />.;Toj analyze this extravagant pre-
<br />diGt'ion by Nebraskans Ia'irst Exe4u- ,
<br />tive Dixector pon Adams - and;to see the logic Por why Heineman
<br />should sign the Platte River Recov-
<br />ery Implenientation Plan - let's
<br />look at a litYle history. tiD:'uelopment of the Pl?atta has
<br />nu;u.ex 'been solely a Nebraska af-
<br />fair. As' previously noted in this
<br />space, the oldest surface-water
<br />rights in the Flatte basin are held in
<br />Colora:do, dating to 1859. ?
<br />Some way was needed for all the ,
<br />people tappinb afertile river in.an
<br />arid region to share it. Thus the
<br />pxixiciple ol' t'irst in time, first in
<br />right: ??roperties wl?ere Platte yva-
<br />ter 1'irst was used have first call.:
<br />Latex, peoplc discovered an im-
<br />mense pool oF water below the
<br />praxxie. Lven as the great dams and
<br />irrzg? ?:ion carials. develaped on the
<br />Nort? Platte in the early 1900s '
<br />grounowatex wells were sprouting
<br />down?tream. 1?eople tl?ot?ght the groundwater
<br />was a?n extra, water source., But.it
<br />zsn't: The waters below are linlced
<br />to the waters above.'Therein lies 'a .
<br />rcality liiat Nebraslza didn't even
<br />aclci?.owledge legally unti11996. That irrigation is gold for Ne-
<br />braslza is Ueyond dispute. So is the
<br />econoxnic pain a rollbaclc would'
<br />br?iig, But this drought has rein-
<br />forceci hydrplogical truth. Anyone
<br />, who,;dz•ives Interstate 80 can see it.
<br />?']?;e;?.Platte lias gone all, but d?:?y
<br />for periods •near Grand Island'but,
<br />cont?ir?ues.toflow riear riyer' s end
<br />soutb? of Onrzaha. But for the inflows.
<br />frqzn the Llkhorn and Loup IZiyer
<br />sy5t, 6ms - largely, fed by ground-,
<br />• wat,?r under the Sand Hills - the
<br />Platte wouTd Ue dry there, too.
<br />Irrigation wells and center pivots
<br />havel spread up and down the Platte
<br />s3?"stem. (Cities. are making greater
<br />use'of the.river, too, but their share
<br />ox''ii- Sage pales Uefore that of agri-
<br />cilXture.) All this pumping -has
<br />pl,a,'y,:ed a part in drying up the cen-
<br />tra? 'Platte and turning upstream :
<br />La1ze.McConaughy irrto Little Mac.
<br />s??zad then there are the birds. The.
<br />lastc;:major drougYit, around 1990,
<br />was +aUout the tiine environmental-
<br />ists izzsisted that endangered bird
<br />species along the central Platte, in
<br />essence, liad federal water rights
<br />pred`ating. even white settleme'nt.
<br />„',Cliat was when the federal gov-
<br />e?nrj?ient ordered water to be re-
<br />leasc?d from Kingsley Dam - in the
<br />mic?s;t of tYiat droubht - to aid the
<br />bir:cls. 1'l?at unhappy inemory -has
<br />U.een tapped Uy groups s.uch as Ne-
<br />brasizans I?'irst ever since. .
<br />-''Tkiey ignore one tliizlg, hawever
<br />-='a'good 15 years ol work by lead-
<br />ers``in this region to convince :fed-
<br />cr?zl ;regulators that the Platte :can-
<br />not;lie managed for the birds' laene-
<br />fi?,alpne.
<br />. ?'l?e first Platte River agree-
<br />mnn? inlrrl i?n 1007 nnmm'itfor1 fhn
<br />accord federal government, zes a11 Nebraska, Colorado
<br />and. Wyoming to do
<br />us.ers, what can be done for
<br />ust central Platte, wildlife
<br />rds. . without drying up.
<br />water lakes, shutting off faucets to cities ' or
<br />canxaot turning off irrigatiori .
<br />mmune. Wells that existed. in
<br />that year.
<br />The pending deal; which incorpo-
<br />rates the first one, essentially up-
<br />holds first-in-time, :first-in-right as
<br />the faipest way to allocate the riv-
<br />er. The. parties have cooperated
<br />reasonably well. Even. the federal
<br />regulators have refrained from us-
<br />ing their. Big Mac,water.right.un-.. .
<br />der.the prelim?inar.y accord as.this
<br />drought: goes on. ?
<br />iBut-?dreds of wells. servine
<br />some ??u,uuu acres were ar.iiiea m
<br />the tPlatte li ' a ter
<br />s ate agreement stressed that "
<br />there ought not.be any mor.e. ;
<br />The final agreement requires
<br />little of Nebraska that it 'liadn't
<br />agreed to 10 years ago. But it does
<br />call on the state to make up for
<br />what those extra wells are. taking
<br />and will take away from the river.
<br />The state already resolved to roll.
<br />back irrigation in overtaxed river
<br />basins when, Legislative Bill 962
<br />was enacted in 2004. It was largely
<br />because Heineman wanted to de-
<br />ter.mine whether the Platte R'iver
<br />agreennent would greatly add to
<br />that burden that the :parties'are
<br />1ike1y to delay its, signmg deadline.
<br />frozn.Oct.1 to Dec. 31.
<br />New,-cost estimates from .the Ne-
<br />bras.ka Department of NaturaL Re-
<br />-sources p,eg the rough cost to idle
<br />or retire post-1997 irrigated acres
<br />due to the Platte agreement at $8
<br />million to $11 million. $ut that
<br />cpmpares with an overall estimate
<br />of up to $90 million to curtail irri-
<br />gation in the basin under LB 962.
<br />When, Adams, of Nebraskans '
<br />Fir.st, offered his doomsday sce-
<br />nario last,week in Gering, wes.tern `
<br />Nebraska supporters of the Platte
<br />River deal raised a differerit possi-
<br />. bilify: With no deal, federal regula-
<br />tors,could:order nearly three times
<br />as much water as they now hold in
<br />1VIcConaughy to head straight
<br />downstream from Wyoming to the
<br />central Platte to help the birds.
<br />Just how would that be good for
<br />Nebraska agrictilture? .
<br />The proposed agreement, in oth-.
<br />er. words, would give Nebraska a
<br />chance to pursue habitat-promo- ..
<br />tion methods that would require
<br />far less water than wliat the U.S.
<br />Fish and Wildlife Service would
<br />otherwise require.. .
<br />Some Nebraska. irrigators seem
<br />to persist in intellectual denial that
<br />what they pump from under the
<br />ground can draw down their riv-
<br />ers. It's likely that many more are
<br />in economic denial: They know the
<br />truth but ?are too deeply invested in
<br />their wells not to fight for them. -:
<br />' J3ut the Midlands indeed cannot
<br />go • back to the 1850s.. The birds,
<br />ditch, and pivot irrigators, power
<br />gerierators, communities; hunters, anglers, boaters, sunbathers and
<br />ecotourists have no choice but to
<br />liVe together and:share the river.
<br />The Platte River agreement does
<br />,that as fairly .as seems possible.
<br />Heineman should keep N.ebraska's nnmmi+monfonFl cinn fliio ?col •
<br />?
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