2.2.06
Funding urged for water law
by Martha Stoddard, Omaha World-HeraldNebraska's system for managing surface and groundwater resources will work only if there is enough money to fund it, a state lawmaker said Wednesday.
Toward that end, State Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm Creek urged the Legislature's Appropriations Committee to put $10 million of state funds into helping natural resources districts carry out their responsibilities.
"The one message I heard from the State Water Policy Task Force more than anything is that (Legislative Bill) 962 is no good without adequate funding," Schrock said, referring to the 2004 bill that created the state's management system.
The $10 million that Schrock proposes would be for fiscal year 2006-07, although he said it could be spread over two or three years.
The request would be on top of the $3.2 million in new spending for water management that Gov. Dave Heineman has included in his budget recommendation.
Appropriations Committee members questioned whether the state should foot the bill for problems created when irrigators use more water than nature can sustain.
State Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln, who has proposed charging a fee to irrigators and other water users to pay for water management, raised many of the questions.
The state bears the legal responsibility for water agreements with other states, yet local natural resources districts make decisions about water allocations. Then those districts come to the state seeking money to carry out their responsibilities, he said.
"We need to create some incentives down there where the state doesn't come in and bail them out every five years," Beutler said.
Schrock said farmers already pay a heavy property tax burden in Nebraska, heavier than in surrounding states. He also said irrigation benefits the entire state by adding to the economy.
The $10 million request is part of a legislative package suggested by the Water Policy Task Force, he said.
One piece of that package, LB 805, would use the $10 million to create a grant program to help resources districts carry out water management responsibilities. The grants would require a 20 percent match from the district. LB 805 has been advanced by the Natural Resources Committee.
A second bill would raise the maximum property tax levy by 3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for resources districts in areas where all available water is spoken for.
Ann Bleed, acting director of the Natural Resources Department, said the additional property taxes could be used as a match for state funds.
Part of the governor's budget recommendation calls for $2 million to aid resources districts in carrying out water management plans. The intent is for local districts to match each $1 in state funds with $2 of local funds, Bleed said.
Some of the state aid could be used to buy water in the Harlan County Lake from the Bostwick Irrigation District and release it downstream to help Nebraska meet its obligations to Kansas.
Nebraska agreed to a legal settlement with Kansas and Colorado in 2002 over water in the Republican River basin. The agreement ended a lawsuit Kansas brought based on a 1943 compact.
Bleed said the governor's budget recommendation only addresses the state's most immediate water management needs. Most of the money would be spent trying to bring the state into compliance with the Kansas settlement.
The governor's budget recommendation also includes money for three new staff members for the state's natural resources department - one to review requests for transferring irrigation permits from one well to another and two to work on studying groundwater patterns and flows.
The Appropriations Committee took no immediate action on either Schrock's proposal or the governor's budget recommendation.