By SANDRA HANSEN, Ag Editor 

Irrigators in the Pumpkin Creek watershed are seeking flexibility in the use of their ground water allocations. The North Platte Natural Resources District is working on a proposal that would meet the requirements of today’s various water management plans, hoping to hold a public hearing in early March.

Ron Cacek, general manager of the NPNRD, said Thursday that the current 12-inch per acre per year allocation would be revised to 36 inches per acre over three years.

“This would give people more flexibility and would help them out,” Cacek said. However, because the allocations are part of the Integrated Management Plan (IMP), or guidelines for water use along the North Platte River, the draft proposal has to be reviewed by the NPNRD attorney, as well as the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and its attorney.

Pumpkin Creek would not be the first local area to utilize combined annual allocations. Cacek said other sections of the NPNRD in the North Platte River Valley, namely the designated over-appropriated area, have been operating with 56 inches over four years, with 2012 the third year.

“From our standpoint, it has worked surprisingly well,” Cacek said. “Most people are really cooperating and staying well within their allocations.” Penalties for abusing the appropriation could result in losing some or all of a producer’s water, but according to Cacek, there has not been a violation that extreme.

Another part of the pending proposal would change the size of the designated allocation units within the Pumpkin Creek sub area. As it stands now, producers can combine resources of two wells, but they must be within a square mile. The proposed change would extend that to three square miles, something that Cacek believes would be rare.

“We’re a ways from this proposal being adopted, and a lot can change,” Cacek concluded.