South Platte Natural Resources District opens new year with board oaths, elections

The first business addressed by the South Platte Natural Resources District at its first meeting of 2013 was the administration of oaths of office to four board members re-elected in November. Directors taking their oaths were Bill Halligan, representing Subdistrict 1; Tim Maas, Subdistrict 3; Keith Rexroth, Subdistrict 5; and Larry Rutt, Subdistrict 7.

The board also elected its leaders, choosing to retain Rexroth as board chair. Tom Biggs, representative for Subdistrict 6, remains vice-chair, and Paul Hutchison, Subdistrict 4, is secretary. District Manager Rod Horn is the board treasurer.

During the meeting, the board received the Ground Water Quality Monitoring Program Report from Natural Resources Coordinator Chris Kaiser. For 20 years, the District has been monitoring ground water nitrate levels through a network of irrigation and monitoring wells. Over the course of the past three years, the District has added to that network to increase its understanding of quality and quantity status in areas not previously monitored. The network includes 212 monitoring wells, plus additional wells on tablelands across the District that are monitored once every five years.

As a result of changes in nitrate levels in recent years, the board is watching two management areas for possible re-evaluation of the management phases under which they operate. According to Kaiser’s report, the composite average of the South Platte Valley GWMA (Ground Water Management Area) was under 8 ppm (parts per million) for the third straight year in 2012. Conversely, 2012 marked the second straight year the East Lodgepole Valley GWMA nitrate levels averaged above 8 ppm.

The level is significant in that 8 ppm is 80 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s designated Maximum Contaminate Level (MCL). The EPA under direction of the Clean Water Act sets the standard for nitrate-nitrogen in drinking water at 10 ppm.. The District uses the 80 percent threshold as one of the triggers in its phased management regulations to monitor nitrate contamination.

Virtually all the District’s agricultural ground water users follow Phase I management practices, which require certification by the District prior to irrigating.

Phase II, begins when levels of a certain contaminant reach 80 percent of the MCL for three consecutive years. Its management practices are more stringent, requiring annual three-foot deep soil sampling; collection of ground water well samples from irrigated fields to be analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen; operators using manure as fertilizer must submit a sample to a credited laboratory to have analyzed for nitrogen content; annual reports reflecting the above information must be filed with the SPNRD.

The highest management requirement, Phase III, adds restrictions on fertilizer application anddates when fertilizer can be applied..

Because of the changing levels, the board could consider a reduction for the South Platte Valley GWMA to Phase I management. Several variables could affect the decision, including the loss of several monitoring wells in recent years. Nonetheless, progress in that area has been dramatic.

“Not that long ago, that area had average nitrate levels over 20 ppm,” Kaiser said. “The producers in the area have initiated and followed best management practices such as converting flood irrigation to center pivot and made big changes in their approach. Their actions have resulted in greatly improved nitrate levels.”

District officials will be meeting with the South Platte Valley Ground Water Advisory Committee, which reviews information from the management area and can make recommendations to the board, to see if members feel changes to the area’s management practices are appropriate.

In the East Lodgepole Valley GWMA, which lies just east of Sidney, levels have slowly crept up, topping 8 ppm in just the past two years. Should the rise continue, it is possible Phase II management could be required for the 2014 crop season.

The Sidney GWMA, which includes the Lodgepole Valley from Sidney to Brownson and the Sidney Draw area, remains in Phase II management and averaged 8.7 ppm in 2012.

The remaining management area, the Lodgepole Valley GWMA, running from the Cheyenne-Deuel County border to Colorado, remains solidly in PhaseI management with an average of 5.8 ppm.

A number of additional wells, though not part of the water quality monitoring area, were also included in the report. Tablelands across the District, as well as the Lodgepole Valley in Kimball County, are all lower that the first management trigger of 6.5 ppm, ranging from a high of 5.81 ppm in the Kimball County valley to 3.1 on the Kimball County tablelands.

A supplement to the Water Quality Report, on atrazine levels throughout the District, showed no immediate concerns. Since 2000, the District has worked with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to test wells for the herbicide, used for weed control.

Since 1993 its use has been severely restricted by the EPA due to potential health risks. The EPA standard for atrazine in drinking water is 3 ppb (parts per billion). Kaizer reported in 2012, the District sampled 61 monitoring and domestic wells with an average of 0.09 ppb.

In other business, the board approved corrections to municipal ground water usage baselines for Kimball, Dalton and Gurley. The baseline corrections, necessary because of an error in initial accounting figures, raised the baseline for all three communities.

The board also received a six-month budget review from Horn, showing the District is on track to meet its budget.