The South Platte NRD Board of Directors is a group of locally elected officials managing area natural resources on your behalf. The board meets the second Tuesday of each month and welcomes your input.
The next scheduled board meeting is:
Tuesday, February 14
5 p.m. at the SPNRD office, 551 Parkland Dr. in Sidney.
Click here to see board agendas and minutes.
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Notice of Variance Request On Thursday, January 26th at 7 p.m. the VAG will hear 1 request, involving the following owner and property: For complete legal and project desriptions, click here. |
SPNRD Continues To Review Ground Water Allocations
The South Platte Natural Resources District is continuing discussions on possible changes to regulations governing ground water allocations available for use by area irrigators.
For the past two months, District staff and board members have been reviewing ground water levels and other information brought forth in discussions to determine the best course of action to protect ground water reserves for both immediate and future uses. (Click here to read more)
2011 Water Quality Report Presented
The District’s 2011 Ground Water Quality Monitoring Program Report was presented to the Board of Directors at the January board meeting by Natural Resources Coordinator Chris Kaiser.
This was the 20th year the District has monitored nitrates. To collect date, monitoring wells were sampled quarterly, while irrigation and domestic wells were sampled twice between May and October when possible. (Click here to read more)
District Collects Input On Ground Water Management
Members of the South Platte Natural Resources District board of directors and staff began collecting input from ground water users in meetings across the District on December 19 and 20.
SPNRD Ground Water Advisory Committees from Kimball, Deuel and Cheyenne Counties, made up of individuals representing agricultural, industrial, municipal and other ground water use interests, joined the general public in first hearing status reports on ground water data collected by SPNRD. That information included a review of the 2011 spring ground water level report and a report on ground water usage in 2011. Those attending were also updated on the District’s ground water modeling program.
Those reviews are a big part of the decision making process the District will use as it evaluates ground water management activities and whether or not to adjust irrigator allocations.
Current allocations are in effect through the 2012 growing season, and the SPNRD Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations provide that if any changes to allocations are deemed necessary, the changes will be made about a year ahead of when they will go into effect.
The District has six allocation subareas, with varying ranges of water use allowed for irrigation. In the Lodgepole Valley, irrigators can use a base allocation of 14 or 16 inches of water per acre each year depending on their location, while in the South Platte Valley and the District’s tablelands irrigators are allocated 20 inches of water per acre.
While no decisions have been made, those attending the meetings were shown a number of allocation scenarios coming from preliminary discussions. Advisory committee members and those from the public were asked their opinion on the options and invited to give suggestions as well.
The District continues to seek input regarding its water management strategies, and residents are encouraged to contact the office at 254-2377 for more information or to provide input. Opinions can also be conveyed by email to: spnrd@spnrd.org.
Director Subdistricts Change Due To Population Shifts
Changes to South Platte NRD Director Subdistricts will have constituents in some areas represented by different directors.
The changes are a result of realignments due to population shifts, documented by the 2010 census. By law, representative subdistricts can have no more than a 10 percent variation between the most and least populated areas. The optimum target is a 1:1 ratio.
Cheyenne County, mostly the Sidney area, grew from 2000 to 2010, while populations in Kimball and Deuel County declined. The population shift resulted in a 34 percent variance between SPNRD Subdistrict 5, which covers southeast Sidney and Cheyenne County, and Subdistrict 2, the east side if Kimball and Kimball County and a sliver of western Cheyenne County.
The biggest change in bringing subdistricts’ representative population into alignment was to move the Subdistrict 2 eastern boundary. Previously, Potter had been split between Subdistricts 2 and 4, but now lies wholly within Subdistrict 2.
Most other changes made to balance subdistrict populations were made with slight shifts within Kimball and Sidney. With the realignments, the variance between the largest and smallest subdistricts is seven percent.
Directors and their subdistricts are: SubDistrict 1 – Bill Halligan of Bushnell; Subdistrict 2 – James Johnson of Dix; Subdistrict 3 – Timothy Maas of rural Potter; Subdistrict 4 – Paul Hutchison of rural Sidney; Subdistrict 5 – Kieth Rexroth of Sidney; Subdistrict 6 – Tom Biggs of rural Sidney; and Subdistrict 7 – Larry Rutt of rural Chappell. (Click here to see the new subdistrict map)
No Till Winter Conference Planned For February 2012
The Panhandle No Till Partnership will be hosting a 2 day winter conference on February 22 and 23, 2012 at the Civic Center in Gering.
Dr. Dwayne Beck has agreed to speak at this conference and will discuss his concepts for maximizing winter wheat production during his presentation. Dr. Beck conducts no till research at Dakota Lakes Research Farm near Pierre, South Dakota. Dwayne raises high yielding winter wheat on his dry land and irrigated acres.
Dr. Jill Clapperton will also be one of the featured speakers at the winter no till conference. Dr. Clapperton is an internationally respected lecturer presenting research findings and promoting an understanding of how soil biology and ecology interact with cropping and soil management systems to facilitate long-term soil quality and productivity.
More information on the conference and speakers will be released as the date approaches.
Conservation Award Winners Recognized
Four awards were presented Saturday, October 15 to groups and individuals protecting natural resources and the environment across the South Platte Natural Resources District.
Each year representatives from SPNRD, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and UNL Extension nominate people and projects within the District that excel in the areas of caring for natural resources and also sharing with others the information they’ve gleaned as stewards. The team’s recommendations are then forwarded to the SPNRD Board of Directors for approval. Award winners are then recognized at an awards banquet in the fall.
Board Approves Changes to Rules and Regulations
At its May meeting, the board of directors adopted an order giving approval to the Amended and Restated Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations. The action also repeals three other ground water management documents that were incorporated into the new rules and regulations.
The overhaul of the Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations streamlines the documents related to management of the District’s ground water in relation to both quantity and quality. The various rules and regulations were formed at varying times over the years.(Click here to read more)
NARD Conservation Tree Booklet Updated
To further assist you with your conservation tree purchase this year, the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD) and Nebraska’s Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) have updated and published the popular and widely distributed Conservation Trees for Nebraska booklet this summer. Like the old booklet, each tree species is represented with excellent color photos (tree aspect and foliage
close ups). Descriptions of the tree’s notable features, disease vulnerabilities, and vegetative growing zone information are also included. The new 58 page booklet also contains information on weed barrier and control, drip systems, and reference maps to all 23 NRDs and Nebraska Forest Service Districts.
Many new species are included in the new edition such as Black Hills Spruce, Southwestern White Pine, Harbin Pear, Northern Catalpa, Pecan, American Hazelnut and many more. Forty seven species are featured in the new booklet. The new booklet also features a quick reference table to all species described within.
Planted properly in appropriate locations, conservation trees protect newborn calves, protect soils, save water, save energy, and provide habitat for wildlife.
Booklets are available at your NRD Office, your nearest NRCS Field Office and UNL Extension offices in Chappell, Kimball and Sidney. It is also available online at http://www.nrdtrees.org/
Three Groups Earn Groundwater Guardian Designations For 2010
The South Platte NRD was among three local groups earning designations from the Groundwater Foundation in 2010 for work they perform toward the protection of ground water.
For the 11th straight year, the Sidney Groundwater Guardian Team has received its Groundwater Guardian designation. The team was developed by the South Platte NRD, the city of Sidney and local business leaders with two goals... (Click here to read more)
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Click image to see full report |
Board Looks At Economic Impact
The South Platte Natural Resources District board of directors accepted a report at its October 2010 meeting, outlining possible affects of District actions on the area’s economy.
The report, entitled “The Economic Impact of the South Platte NRD’s Integrated Management Plan and Districtwide Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations,” was commissioned by the District to see what affects its regulations might have. (Click here to read more)
SPNRD Coordinates Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Development
South Platte Natural Resources District is coordinating a planning effort to develop a “Multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan” for a three county area, including all of Kimball, Cheyenne, and Deuel Counties.
The hazard mitigation plan is a publicly-guided document that will identify local vulnerability to natural disasters such as flood, drought, earthquake, wildfire, winter storm, tornado/high wind storm, dam failure, etc. (Click here to read more)
Platte Basin-Wide Water Management Progress Reviewed
Officials from Platte Basin Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) and the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) met for a review of the Basin-wide Plan for Joint Integrated Water Resources Management of the Overappropriated Portion of the Platte River Basin, Nebraska. (Click here to read more)
Program Provides Options To Preserve Area’s Grassland Cover
With the potential expiration of contracts protecting more than 260,000 acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land in the Panhandle by 2013, Panhandle natural resources districts and the Natural Resources Conservation Service have teamed together to preserve regional grassland cover. (Click here to read more)
Helicopter Scans Provide New Look At Geology
When the first Helicopter Electromagnetic (HEM) system took flight over the South Platte NRD in June of 2008, it was a relatively new concept in exploring Nebraska’s water formations. Test flights had been performed in the eastern part of the state, but in the west, with widely varying formations at vastly different depths – capabilities were still an unknown.
Since then, a number of additional flights, both contracted and flown as free demonstrations of companies’ capabilities, have traversed parts of the District. (Click here to read more)
WANTED: Local weather watchers for NeRAIN
Volunteers are needed in Cheyenne, Deuel and Kimball counties to volunteer for a special project for studying the complex patterns of rain, hail and snow in Nebraska.
NeRAIN, (the Nebraska Rainfall Assessment and Information Network) is looking for volunteers – preferably with Internet access -- willing to report measurements of precipitation using high quality backyard rain gauges. (Click here to read more)
Citizens' Group Monitors Environmental Impact
In keeping with its mission to protect and manage natural recources, one activity the District is involved with is the Citizen’s Monitoring Committee (CMC) at Kimball.
The local group, established by the South Platte NRD and the Kimball community, monitors the environmental impact of operations at Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. (CHESI). (Click here to read more)
South Platte Natural Resources District | 551 Parkland Dr. | P.O. Box 294 | Sidney, NE 69162
308-254-2377 | 877-800-1030 (In Neb.) | Fax 308-254-2783 | Email: spnrd@spnrd.org