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<br />Third party environmental impacts associated with leasing can be both positive and <br />negative, Water quality could improve during the summer months when additional flows <br />are added to the river. However, water quality could be degraded and fish and aquatic <br />habitat negatively impacted during the winter months when river flows are reduced due <br />to reductions in return flows. It is unlikely that a leasing program will have any third <br />party impacts on recreational activities, <br /> <br />3. WA TER MANAGEMENT INCENTIVES (CONSERVA T10N CROPPING, DEFICIT IRRIGA TION, <br />FALLOWING, AND ON-FARM IRRIGATION CHANGES) <br /> <br />o Location: <br /> <br />Nebraska has not yet identified specific irrigation districts or individual farmers that are <br />willing to participate in a water management program in conjunction with the Program. <br />The willingness to participate is also unknown at this time. Due to these conditions, the <br />following options have been analyzed. <br /> <br />Option I: Conservation cropping in Reaches 16 through 19. <br />Option 2: Deficit irrigation in Reaches 16 through 19, <br />Option 3: Land fallowing in Reaches 10, and 14 through 19. <br />Option 4: On-farm changes in irrigation techniques in Reaches 17 through 19, <br /> <br />Ideally these programs would be located in downstream locations close to the critical <br />habitat to minimize difficulties associated with "protecting" the water. However, <br />because specific irrigation districts and lands willing to participate in the Program are <br />not yet known, it was assumed that representative water management projects are <br />located at the mid-point of each reach. The reaches are defined under water leasing in <br />Nebraska. <br /> <br />The principal irrigation districts and/or canals that have irrigated lands in Reaches 10, and <br />14 through 19 are described under water leasing in Nebraska. These irrigation districts <br />and/or canals could potentially be involved in a water management program. <br /> <br />The yield and cost analyses of these programs has been limited to surface water <br />irrigation, however, if additional water generated from these options is not protected it <br />may be institutionally easier to apply these programs close to the critical habitat. In order <br />to achieve the proposed yields below Kearney, Nebraska these types of projects would <br />also have to be applied to lands irrigated with groundwater because there is not a <br />sufficient amount of surface water irrigation below Kearney to realize the proposed yield, <br />Analysis of the yields and costs of these options as they apply to groundwater irrigated <br />lands could be completed once more information is obtained regarding specific <br />groundwater irrigators willing to participate in the Program. <br /> <br />C:\Draft Water Action PIon {May 30, 2000)\wlIpC report (Version 6 BND2)-.doc <br /> <br />23 <br /> <br />I <br />~ <br />