Last week, the North Platte Natural Resources District (NPNRD) hosted a meeting with representatives from the surface water interests in the area. While we have a long history of working together, we had not had a meeting like this since I took over as general manager. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss with these partners our water management activities, and have a dialogue on how we can work together in the future. This is just one of the many examples of partnerships we are a part of.

Locally, the NPNRD is a founding member of many different partnerships. We joined with the other two panhandle NRDs, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Panhandle RC&D, and University of Nebraska Extension to form the Panhandle No‐Till Partnership to promote no‐till practices. We partnered with Keep Scottsbluff/Gering Beautiful to expand their recycling and educational programs to the rest of the District. We also joined business interests, surface water representatives to form the North Platte Valley Water Association, and our mission is to promote the water interests of the valley to the elected officials in Lincoln. We have also joined the South Platte NRD to develop the Western Water Use Management Model. The model is used to evaluate our water management activities.

The District help found the Gering Valley Flood Control Project Permanent Maintenance Committee. The committee works together to ensure that flood control structures are functioning properly and maintained. The District also works with local landowners and producers through various programs such as cost‐share, irrigation retirements, and groundwater quality management areas. The District hopes to provide landowners and producers with the tools to make their operations more efficient.

The NPNRD has also expanded its role in the area of recreation and one of the few remaining NRDs that do not have a recreation project. We partnered with Platte River Basin Environments, the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Services, Nebraska Game and Parks, and the Nature Conservancy to develop a detailed, interactive web map for recreational opportunities in the NRD. The map has been a huge success and will help people reconnect with the many wonderful nature areas.

The NRD has also been in talks with a couple municipalities about partnering on improving and managing recreational areas. We believe one of the best ways to protect our beautiful natural areas is to get people out there and experience them, and we continue to look for partnerships to accomplish that goal.

Our partnerships are not limited to our geographic area, we have joined many organizations throughout the state. We have joined with the Upper Platte Basin NRDs, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, and the Platte River Recovery and Implementation Program to form the Platte Basin Coalition. The coalition works together to form a Basin‐wide Plan ensure that each of the NRD's Intergraded Management Plans work together to get the basin back to a fully appropriated status. We also are members of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, Nebraska Water Resources and Association, Nebraska State Irrigators Association. All of these organizations help formulate policy, provide education for public officials, and bring many different interest together to find solutions to today's problems.

The North Platte NRD believes by working together, we can accomplish many great things for our District. We value all our partners, including the most important partners of all, our landowners, and we look forward our continued work together.