Flooding impacts from recent high South Platte River flows into Nebraska have been lessened by diverting water into irrigation canals for groundwater recharge.

At Thursday's Twin Platte Natural Resources District (TPNRD)board meeting in North Platte, TPNRD Integrated Management Plan Manager Ann Dimmitt informed the Board of Director's that approximately 5,300 acre-feet of water was diverted from May 13 through June 1st into three Lincoln and Keith County irrigation ditches: Platte Valley (North Platte); Suburban; and Western. Flows were also diverted into some re-use pits and ponds.

This is the fifth time irrigation ditches in Lincoln and Keith Counties have diverted excess flows since 2011. Dimmitt said 1,700 acre-feet of the diversions will be groundwater recharge that, over 20 to 30 years, will benefit river flows and 3,600 acre-feet will be directly returned to the river.

"The current plan is to continue the diversions into re-use pits and ponds until irrigation is needed", Dimmitt said. "There is still going to be high water in the river, but TPNRD can't continue to take recharge credit for it without having additional places to store it away from the canals. We've received credit for all we can take into the irrigation ditch laterals for recharge." Any additional recharge efforts using the canals will not count towards recharge credit since the irrigation ditches usually have water in their ditches starting June 1st intended for irrigation purposes.

Dimmitt added that TPNRD officials are working with irrigation ditches and looking at possible storage facility sites near the ditches similar to the existing re-use pits and ponds.

Ann Dimmitt - Integrated Management Plan (IMP) Manager
Twin Platte Natural Resources District
Great Western Bank Center
PO Box 1347
North Platte, Nebraska 69103-1347
Phone: 308.535.8080
Web Site: www.tpnrd.org
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