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1 <br />M <br />I <br />Ci <br />Vii <br />PROBLEM: HIGH GROUNDWATER LEVELS <br />Low -lying areas along the Platte River Valley in Nebraska <br />(from North Platte east to Grand Island and beyond) are <br />subject to high ground water levels. These levels can cause <br />waterlogged farm fields and flooded basements. In recent <br />years, these problems have been somewhat more <br />widespread for a variety of interrelated reasons. In 1999, <br />for example, rainfall totals ran almost 7 inches above <br />normal. Irrigation was delayed well past the normal start of <br />the irrigation season and irrigation managers reported that <br />they had "a high water table problem all over." The only <br />pumps running were those draining basements and flooded <br />fields (Kearney Hub, "June rain surplus puts irrigation <br />pumps on hold," July 1, 1999). <br />Even during times of above normal precipitation, flows in <br />the Platte River at certain times in the year are not enough <br />to meet the needs of several endangered species. In July <br />People currently <br />experiencing problems <br />with high ground water <br />levels are concerned <br />that higher river flows <br />could aggravate their <br />problems. <br />The Platte River <br />Endangered Species <br />Recovery Program is <br />examining possible <br />ways to augment flows <br />at critical times. <br />1997, the states of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, and the U.S. Department of the <br />Interior (DOI), signed a cooperative agreement to make more water available in the river <br />at times when wildlife can use it, and to provide more habitat acreage along the river. <br />Numerous agencies in the three states and the DOI are working with water user <br />organizations, local farmers and landowners, and environmental groups to develop a <br />Program aimed at improving land and water habitat for four threatened and endangered <br />species that use the Central Platte River in Nebraska. These groups have not yet <br />completed work on a Proposed Program. At some time in the future, this Program may <br />modify streamflows to benefit threatened and endangered species. Some people <br />currently experiencing water - logged farm fields and flooded basements are concerned <br />that streamflow increases, if made in the future, could aggravate existing problems from <br />high ground water levels. <br />Executive Summary <br />