I WORKSHOP INTERNACIONAL: PESQUISA CIENTÍFICA PARA POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS DE GESTÃO SUSTENTÁVEL DOS RECURSOS HÍDRICOS: Os exemplos do Nebraska, USA e do Oeste da Bahia, Brasil AUDITÓRIO ASSEMBLEIA LEGISLATIVA - SALVADOR, BAHIA

1. Natural Resources
Districts
Jasper Fanning
Upper Republican Natural Resources District General Manager
Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts: How they came about and their objectives

2. Nebraska Uniqueness
• Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) were formed in 1972 to deal with
issues like flood control, soil erosion, irrigation run-off, and
groundwater quantity and quality.
• The Nebraska Legislature created NRDs by combining 154 pre-
existing special purpose entities.
• The NRD system is unique to Nebraska.
• 23 Districts with boundaries based upon river basin boundaries.
• Locally elected Boards govern the Districts, allowing for issues to be
solved locally.

3. The Upper Republican NRD

4. Irrigation Wells in URNRD

5. Irrigated Acres in URNRD

6. Authorized Purposes of
Natural Resources Districts
1. Development, management, use
and conservation of groundwater
and surface water
2. Soil conservation
3. Erosion prevention and control
4. Flood prevention and control
5. Pollution control
6. Water supply for any beneficial
uses
7. Prevention of damages from flood
water and sediment
8. Development and management of
recreational and park facilities
9. Forestry and range management
10. Development and management of
fish and wildlife habitat
11. Drainage improvement
12. Solid waste disposal

7. Issues Faced During Development
• Many producers and water users throughout the state were hesitant due
to potential regulation.
• Local control was preferred to state level control and rule making.
Local water conservation district officials were intimately involved in
lobbying for creation of NRDs and local control.
• Water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer were declining due to existing
development in the area of the Upper Republican NRD.

8. Upper Republican NRD Timeline
• 1972 – NRDs Created
• 1976 – Groundwater Management Act passed by Legislature with encouragement from the
URNRD. The Act gives NRDs the authority to regulate groundwater use.
• 1977 – Groundwater declines and interest in sustainability of water resources prompt URNRD to
request designation as Groundwater Management Area. Request is granted by the state and the
NRD becomes the first Management Area in the state with limitations on groundwater irrigation.
• 1978-1979 –URNRD the first in the state to require metering and reporting of groundwater use.
Irrigation allocation of 20 inches per acre per year. Since reduced to 13 inches per acre.
• 1997 – Moratorium on new wells approved becoming the first well-drilling moratorium in the
state.
• 2005 – Developed first integrated management plan to manage ground and surface water
conjunctively. Started work to develop conjunctive management projects.

9. URNRD Timeline, Continued
• 2012 – Rock Creek Augmentation Project constructed
significantly enhancing the state’s and NRD’s ability to maintain
compact compliance.
• 2013 – Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement
Project (NCORPE) constructed.

10. Groundwater Monitoring
• More than 400 irrigation well static water levels
are measured twice annually.
• All irrigation wells in the District are required to be
equipped with flow meters that track water use.
• The URNRD monitors the quality of water by testing
wells throughout the District; the Water Quality
Testing Program began in 1974.
• There are two separate sampling events: a sample of
domestic and irrigation wells are sampled annually,
focusing on human health as well as aquifer health.

11. Management Based on Information
• Geological Survey of Geology and groundwater hydrology of Republican and
Frenchman Rivers, 1957
• Groundwater geology and pump irrigation in Frenchman Creek Basin above
Palisade, Nebraska, Cardwell and Jenkins, 1963
• Changes in the water supply in the Upper Republican Natural Resources
District, Southwest Nebraska, from 1952-1975, Lappala, 1976
• Quantitative hydrogeology of the Upper Republican Natural Resources
District, southwest Nebraska, Lappala, 1978
• Simulated Response of the High Plains Aquifer to Groundwater withdrawals in
the Upper Republican Natural Resources District, Peckenpaugh, Kern, Dugan,
Kilpatrick, 1995

12. Future Study and Modeling
• Continued Data Collection
• Cooperation with UNL Conservation and Survey
• Periodically update models with new information to refine predictive
capability and decision making capability.

13. Funding District Operations
• Property tax authority
• All property owners pay
• Occupation tax authority
• Fee per irrigated acre
• Only eligible to fund water management projects
• Irrigators paying for the projects that benefit them the most

14. Recent Challenges and Authorities
• Originally focused on management of groundwater only
• More recently expanded to conjunctive or integrated management of
groundwater and surface water.
• Integrated management plans are required to be sufficient to comply
with interstate compacts and agreements.
• Allowing for growth and changes in use in a fully appropriated
system.
• Nebraska law gives power to the NRDs to manage water in their
districts and that responsibility continues to grow and the NRDs
continue to have success and continue to be a model for other states to
follow.