Nebraska’s new Water Funding Task Force brings its work to the Panhandle this month with sessions Thursday and Friday in Alliance and in Sidney later this month on the 24th and 25th.
The task force was created by the legislature and given five-months process to recommend a long-term funding plan for projects to help maintain water sustainability in Nebraska.
State Senator and Task Force member Al Davis of Hyannis says the panel has been meeting regularly and traveling to all parts of the state to learn first-hand about the challenges in each of Nebraska’s major watersheds and how they differ from each other.
Davis says the Task Force has 3 priority categories for projects: those that maximize the use of water and its productivity, those that are cost-effective, and those that meet multiple water supply management goals.
Senator John Harms of Scottsbluff, who is not a Task Force member, is pleased that the 34 member panel includes 6 Panhandle-area members, but he’s still encouraging Panhandle residents…especially ag producers…to attend one or more of the Alliance and Sidney sessions and be part of the process.
The Alliance meetings will be at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center…Thursday from 8-5 and Thursday from 8-noon.
Thursday morning has a panel discussion on water funding administration and structure, while the afternoon will be a review and discussion of a recent Task Force criteria and ranking exercise.
Friday will see two of the Panhandle’s natural resources districts…the Upper Niobrara White and the North Platte…brief the Task Force on their issues, projects and water funding needs, ending with a tour from Alliance to Bridgeport.
The task force has 27 voting members….the 16 members of the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission and 11 appointed by the governor…along with 7 non-voting members…Department of Natural Resources head Brian Dunnigan and 6 state senators, including Davis and Ken Schilz of Ogallala.
Three Panhandle residents on the Task Force are local NRD board members who are also on the Natural Resources Commission… David Kadlecek of Hay Springs, Dave Deines of Gering, and Keith Rexroth of Sidney
The other Panhandle members are Gordon architect Rex Peterson and Pathfinder Irrigation District manager Dennis Strauch of Mitchell, both appointed by the governor.