SPNRD Board Retains Leadership

At its first meeting of the year, the South Platte Natural Resources District (SPNRD) Board of Directors (Board) voted to retain the same officers for 2018 as they had in 2017. Chairman will remain Bill Halligan, Vice-Chairman will remain Timothy Maas, Secretary will remain James Johnson, and the Treasurer will remain Rod Horn. Halligan represents Subdistrict 1, Maas represents Subdistrict 3, Johnson represents Subdistrict 2, and Horn is the General Manager at the SPNRD.

Chris Kaiser, SPNRD natural resources coordinator, gave the Annual 2017 Ground Water Quality Monitoring Program Report for the District. The District has 183 dedicated wells for the Ground Water Quality Control Program that are spread along the length of the Lodgepole creek. Of those wells, 143 were sampled at least once last year.

This is the first year that Kimball County (no subareas) within the Lodgepole Valley has been over 65% of the MCL (Maximum Containment Level) trigger. The Sidney Subarea is in a phase II management control right now (three consecutive years over the 80% MCL trigger) and producers in this area are required to abide by the District's Nitrogen Reporting Program. This year is the first year that the Sidney Subarea has been over the 95% MCL trigger.

While nitrate levels have been steadily rising in Kimball and Cheyenne Counties, Kaiser reported that the South Platte River Valley and the Deuel County Lodgepole Valley Subareas were the only two subareas where nitrates have been decreasing over time.

"This really is a credit to the producers in those areas" Rod Horn told the Board. He went on to say that while the District has been working on management plans, it's the producers who made this difference with their responsible management practices and commitment.

Kathy Narjes, Subdistrict 6 director, gave the District Operations Committee Report. Narjes explained to the Board that a revision to the By-Laws has been requested from the Oliver Reservoir Advisory Committee (ORAC). During the November 2017 ORAC Committee meeting the members determined that they would like the requirement for committee members to be adjusted. Currently the committee members representing farmers "must reside upstream from Oliver Reservoir" and the committee would like that By-Law adjusted to read that the member "will represent Kimball County Landowners/farmers." A motion was made to accept the change and the Board voted to pass the By-Law update as requested.

Narjes said Jim Young has shown interest in serving on the recreation area advisory committee. The Board appointed Young, from Kimball County, as the newest member to fill a vacancy on the Oliver Reservoir Recreation Area Advisory Committee. His term will start immediately.

Also on the agenda for the evening was a continued discussion regarding the Irrigation Water Allocation Period for 2019-2021. Ryan Reisdorff, SPNRD water resources specialist, presented a proposed draft agenda for the upcoming advisory committee meetings. The plan is for three meetings to be held, one in each county of the District. Information will be given to District Residents and allow for feedback from residents to assist the Board with future decisions regarding allocations for the coming period. Meetings are currently planned to start in the second half of February and will run through early March. The SPNRD office will announce the meeting locations and times in the coming weeks to the public.

For questions or more information, contact the South Platte NRD at 308-254-2377 or visit them online at http://www.spnrd.org. SPNRD Board of Director Meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month.