Water use in the Southern Panhandle

In the 2014 South Platte Natural Resources District (SPNRD) Water Usage Report, the average amount of water used daily by people living in the District boundaries of Kimball, Cheyenne, and Deuel counties is 287 gallons of water a day.

Taking a shower, cooking, and doing laundry are just some of the everyday activities that attribute to our water usage. In an average year each of us uses some 105,000 gallons of water, enough to fill three backyard pools once a year. Begin to add the water used in our communities, such as restaurants, hotels, construction and hospitals, it becomes easy to see the water use footprint become larger.

While it is true that the agriculture industry is one of the biggest water users, it is important for everyone to recognize water use and where our water comes from.

The SPNRD, whose motto is “Protecting Lives, Protecting Property, Protecting the Future,” is charged with making sure that clean, usable water is available for everyone, from city dweller to agricultural producer.

One of the most important ways that the SPNRD is ensuring water for everyone in the District is to monitor trends in high water usage areas such as irrigation.

To make informed decisions the SPNRD Board is taking into account many avenues of information including data collected by the District on water use, water level measurements, the Western Water Use Management Modeling (WWUMM) and input from the public.

During Ground Water Advisory Committee Meetings held in Kimball, Sidney and Big Springs earlier this summer the Board was able to hear first-hand comments from the public to aide in making decisions regarding the Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations.

Informing the public about techniques and data used to make these decisions is another tool used by the SPNRD. Another presentation of the information provided at the Ground Water Advisory Committee Meetings will be given at the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds 4-H Building on Sept. 15, beginning at 5 p.m. After the presentation there will be time for the public to ask questions. 30 minutes after the public presentation or 6:30 p.m., whichever is later, a public hearing will be held for those who wish to make comments, either oral or written, on the proposed changes to the Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations.

There will be no formal decision on the Rules and Regulations during the public hearing. The meeting records will remain open until Oct. 2 for anyone wishing to add written comments after the public hearing.

Information regarding the proposed changes to the Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations is available on the District website along with a short online presentation at http://www.spnrd.org.