NRD sets irrigation allocations for 2016-'18

Irrigation allocations for farmers in the South Platte Natural Resources District for the three-year period between 2016-'18 have been set.

Travis Glanz, the South Platte NRD's water resources coordinator, said allocations in only two of the six subareas regulated by the agency were amended from current allotments.

In the South Platte Valley – in eastern Deuel County – allocations were reduced by 2 inches. In the Tablelands – primarily the areas north and south of the Interstate 80 corridor in Kimball, Cheyenne and Deuel counties – allocations were decreased by 1 inch.

Every three years, the water allowances are updated as part of the Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations.

The allocations approved this month came after Ground Water Advisory Committee meetings in each of the three counties affected by the limits and a public hearing in Sidney in September.

Glanz said the comments and testimony, along with groundwater models and groundwater levels are the three main considerations used in determining the allocations.

In Cheyenne County, from Buffalo Bend – County Road 87 – to Sidney, irrigating farmers are allowed 48 acre-inches during the three-year total. From County Road 115 in Sidney to the Colorado state line, the three-year allocation is 48 acre-inches.

Additionally, the NRD amended a rules regulating carryforward and the carryforward cap, setting a 10 acre-inches limit for both.

"The carryforward is the amount of unused acre-inches that can be carried forward to subsequent allocation periods, and the carryforward cap is the total amount of carryforward that may be accumulated over multiple allocation periods and used in subsequent allocation periods," a release from the NRD states.

Another amendment implemented by the NRD states that the use of surface water would not count against the amount of allocation.

Flow meters measure usage by irrigating farmers in the district to ensure compliance with the limits, Glanz said.

"With the approval and adoption of the Amended and Restated Districtwide Ground Water Management Rules and Regulations, they will become effective on Nov. 13," the release adds.

The rules can be obtained at the NRD's Sidney office or online, at http://www.spnrd.com.

Irrigation allocations will next be reviewed in 2018.