Expansion of Irrigated Acres in the Upper Loup NRD will be Allowed for 2018

The Upper Loup Board of Directors voted at the June Board Meeting to allow up to two thousand five hundred (2,500) acres of new development for year 2018 across the District. Five hundred (500) acres have been allotted to each of the five sub-districts. Landowners must apply for any new irrigated acres on a    District application form. These forms can be downloaded from our website at www.upperloupnrd.org or by calling the office at 308-645-2250 and requesting an application. The application period is July 1, 2017 thru September 30, 2017. An application received outside of an application period will be returned to the applicants as incomplete. A maximum of two hundred and sixty (260) irrigated acres per individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, other entity or trust will be allowed per application period for expanded irrigated acres. A one-time non-refundable administrative fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per application of twenty-five (25) acres or less or three dollars ($3.00) per acre for applications over twenty-five (25) acres must accompany an application. The application form requires: information on the landowner and/or their contact person; field description, an aerial photo depicting the field; and the number of acres of new irrigation requested. A minimum score of fifteen (15) points on the Upper Loup District Irrigated Acre Ranking Sheet is required for an application to be considered for approval. Each application for expansion of irrigated acres will be ranked according to the following criteria: groundwater quality in the vicinity, density of irrigated acres within the vicinity, NRCS soil classification (e.g. Highly Erodible Lands, or HEL), stream proximity, slope, removal of trees and any other criteria and/or considerations deemed relevant by the District. Acres approved for expansion must be certified with the Upper Loup NRD as well as have a flowmeter installed on any new or existing wells prior to any pumping with groundwater.