Laserfiche WebLink
Issue #21 The Water Report <br />Nebraska <br />NEBRASKA WATER LAW CHANGING Mgm <br />DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENTS - THE SPEAR T RANCH CASE <br />by LeRoy W. Sievers and Jocelyn Walsh Golden <br />Knudsen, Berkheimer, Richardson & Endacott, LLP (Lincoln, NE) <br />INTRODUCTION <br />Recently, the Nebraska Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Spear T Ranch v. <br />Knaub, 269 Neb. 177, 691 N.W.2d 116 (2005), which potentially is the most significant case decided by <br />the Nebraska Supreme Court in decades. This case establishes the principle that uses supplied from <br />groundwater, which result in direct and significant reduction in stream flows, can be held accountable for <br />the resulting damages to surface water irrigators. This case for the first time in Nebraska gives legal <br />Groundwater recognition of the hydraulic reality of the inter - connectedness of certain surface water and groundwater <br />Accountable and provides recourse for surface water users whose interests are not being otherwise protected. This <br />article will provide a background of the physical and legal setting, briefly describe the history of the case <br />as it made its way through the Nebraska Supreme Court, detail the positions of the various parties and <br />amicus, describe the Court's decision, and, finally, discuss its potential implications. Other significant <br />cases recently decided by the Nebraska Supreme Court will also be briefly described. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Pumpkin Creek begins near the Nebraska/Wyoming state line in the panhandle of Nebraska and <br />Pumpkin Creek flows generally east and north, entering the North Platte River near Bridgeport, Nebraska (see map). In <br />Aquifer the Pumpkin Creek Basin (Basin), precipitation averages between 15 and 17 inches per year. The Basin's <br />aquifer is of a type unusual in Nebraska. The groundwater resources, other than a very thin alluvial <br />aquifer below the stream itself, come from fractures in the parent material. From before the 1930s until <br />the mid- 1960s, Pumpkin Creek contributed between 20,000 and 30,000 acre -feet (AF) per year to the <br />North Platte River. However, as the number of irrigation wells drilled in the Basin increased, the flows in <br />the stream declined. As of 1998, the number of wells had increased to 543, the flows of Pumpkin Creek <br />declined to less than 10,000 AF, and the number of zero flow days increased substantially. Additionally, <br />groundwater levels declined in wells throughout the basin. <br />Pumpkin Creek Basin in the North Platte NRD <br />.0" t` r d' <br />o o C", 4' ° o o °°6 0 0 f ojl o. <br />o 00 <br />o <br />C P 0 ` o <br />3 0 g <br />e Po 3 c <br />t <br />G <br />g <br />o 0 <br />o W o• <br />° 8 o ° <br />o o ° o a 0 ° <br />0 o 00$ P11 o o <br />6° o u iagepore <br />Co d ° @ 0 <br />, ° 0 ° CO IIo <br />o <br />c <br />r <br />Q G ry�„y0 60 <br />00 80 6 • aek 0 o ° o <br />xarrenorg ° °o ••o �� B m 6, <br />00 ) p <br />o ° op ° • oa o °° $ ° ° <br />° o' S. ,q. o ° o..O ova o <br />i 1 8 ff ° <br />° <br />8 0 °0 ° ° <br />%° 0 • • <br />o. o aoo o • <br />mo <br />° o 0 00 ° <br />ca '• o o ° ee <br />° - ° 00 0 <br />0 <br />Area of Interest <br />Legend <br />• Industrial Wells <br />10 4 LQ 20 miles Irrigation wells <br />O Pumpkin Creek Basin <br />e ras a <br />16 Copyright© 2005 Envirotech Publications; Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. <br />