Modifications Made to the District’s Cover Crop Program Guidelines
In February, the Lower Elkhorn NRD (LENRD) Board of Directors approved modifications to LENRD Cover Crop Guidelines. Some of the modifications include: increasing the maximum number of acres enrolled from 80 to 160; the minimum contract amount from $200 to $220; and the definition of how to decide who a participant, or operator, is. Exceptions have also been added to the requirement for Cover Crop Seeding each year for up to three consecutive years.

LENRD Board Members Considering Financial Assistance for the City of Wayne Prairie Park Project
Discussions have been ongoing amongst Board members on whether to provide financial support to the City of Wayne for their ongoing Prairie Park Project. Due to the amount of funding requested, $250,000, the Project would be considered a “special project” which is different than a request for funding through LENRD cost-share programs. 

The Prairie Park Project is a Community Redevelopment Project which is allowing the City to clean up an old sewage lagoon and turn it into a recreational area with the possibility for the addition of workforce housing in the future. Once completed, the park will be the largest recreational area in City history and connects to a trail system that is already in use. The project will include a lake feature and camper pads as well as native prairie grasses and numerous trees.

The City of Wayne has already put roughly $2.7 million into the project and has received additional assistance from grants, sales taxes, and support from other entities. The LENRD has assisted the City of Wayne with funding in the past for a trail system and a City park through the Urban Recreation Program.

An amended motion to provide $100,000 in support over three years failed at the April 25th Board Meeting. The original motion, to provide $250,000 in support over a three-year term, also failed. The Board discussed establishing a policy, or specific criteria, that requests must meet to receive funding as a special project. Directors asked if the City of Wayne could come back before them with a different proposal to be discussed and voted on. 

Policy Now in Place for Inter-District Transfer of Groundwater
In March, Board members approved a policy to approve variance requests for well permits/expansion of acres with an existing well involving inter-district transfers of groundwater. This policy will not only provide consistency in the variance approval process but also encourage collaboration with neighboring NRDs. In order to approve a variance request under this policy, three conditions must be met:

• The applicant is following all rules and regulations of the LENRD.
• When all, or a portion of, the groundwater withdrawn from the proposed/existing well will be used for irrigation in a neighboring NRD, the neighboring District must first grant their approval for the intended use before well operation may begin.
• All new consumptive use associated with the proposed new/existing well will be governed by the rules and regulations of the LENRD.

Lower Elkhorn NRD Groundwater Management Area Rules & Regulations Have Been Amended
After months of discussion and review with the Department of Natural Resources and the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, the LENRD Board of Directors approved amendments to the Lower Elkhorn NRD Groundwater Management Area Rules and Regulations. The amendments include modifications to the Phase II, III, and IV Area requirements. A main focus of the change was to modify Rule 17, which currently doesn’t allow for flexibility to add new irrigated acres in the LENRD Quantity Subareas. Additional changes were also made to help better define certain definitions.

Spring 2024 Static Water Level Update
Water Resources Technician, Dallas Dorey, updated Directors on the status of District static water levels this Spring. The Spring measurements provide data of the aquifer’s non-pumping levels. Annual monitoring of water levels is done to see long-term data trends and determine if there are issues with groundwater quantity. Of the 238 wells measured, 33 wells recorded all-time Spring lows and District-wide water levels were down an average of 0.93’. The static water level of 164 wells had declined, 26 remained the same (+/- 0.2’), and 47 were higher than Spring 2023.

LENRD Board of Directors Vote to Move Forward with Settlement
At the Board Meeting on April 25, 2024, Directors approved a motion to move forward with a settlement in the lawsuit with Director Melissa Temple.

Make plans to join us for our Committee of the Whole Meetings held at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month, and our Board Meetings held at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of the month (except for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays). A meeting calendar can be found on our website at www.lenrd.org

To learn more about the 12 responsibilities of the Nebraska’s NRDs and how your local District can work with you and your community to protect your natural resources, visit www.lenrd.org and sign up for our monthly emails. The next board of directors meeting will be Thursday, May 23, at the LENRD office in Norfolk at 7:30 p.m. and on Facebook Live.