Upper Loup Natural Resources District - Notice of Public Hearing

The Upper Loup NRD will conduct a public hearing on Thursday February 12, 2015 to receive written and oral public testimony in regards to proposed amendments to the Upper Loup NRD Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regulations. The revisions include: variance application fee change to 50 dollars, addition of Rule 9 which covers “complaints” against landowners or operator’s within the District, requirement that all industrial and commercial well applications must provide a hydrological evaluation showing a 20 year potential impact of the withdrawal to water quality and quantity to both ground and surface water users in the District, no high capacity wells to be drilled within 300 feet of an existing active domestic well, flowmeters required on all high capacity wells in sub-district 5 by May 1 of 2017, in sub-district 4 by May 1, 2018 and sub-districts 1-3 by May 1 of 2020, transfer permit fee change to 75.00 dollars per application of 25 acres or less or 3 dollars per acre for applications over 25 acres, the Board reserves the right to approve less than 2500 acres annually at the June Board meeting, a minimum score of 15 (out of 70) will be required on an irrigated acre ranking sheet before the application will be considered for approval, application period for new groundwater irrigated acres shall be during July, August and September, a maximum of 260 irrigated acres per individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, or other entity or trust will be allowed per application period for expanded irrigated acres, chemigation permit fee changes are renewal 30 dollars, new and special 60 dollars and emergency 250 dollars, the Board reserves the right to establish a subarea, place a temporary moratorium on new acres in that subarea as well as begin hydrological studies in efforts to prevent any potential groundwater quantity problems.  The hearing will be at 3:00 p.m. CST, at the Upper Loup NRD office, 39252 Highway 2, Thedford, NE  69166.  A full text copy of the amended Ground Water Management Area Rules and Regs is on our website at www.upperloupnrd.org or can be obtained from the Upper Loup NRD, 39252 Highway 2, Thedford, NE  69166 or by calling 308-645-2250.

New No-Till Drill Prices

There are many positive benefits of using a No-till drill such as increasing soil health, reducing runoff contaminant in surface waters, as well as reduced labor and fuel thus increasing net farm income.  The Upper Loup NRD is happy that it can provide two No-Till Drills—one 10 foot drill and one 20 foot for producers to use.  Due to the increased repairs that the NRD has had to perform, it is now policy that the drills will all be delivered by NRD personnel only starting November 1, 2014. 

New delivery rates are: $35.00 for deliveries 0-20 miles (one way) from the office, $55.00 for deliveries 21-60 miles (one way) from the office and for deliveries greater than 60 miles (one way) from the office the charge is $70.00.  Drill rental rates for the 10 foot drill for crop seed are $8.00 per acre plus tax. For the 10 foot drill for flower seed is a minimum of $75.00 or 12.5 acres at the $8.00 per ace plus tax. The 20 foot drill rents for $14.00 per acre plus tax.  If you have any questions or would like to rent the drill please contact Taylor at our office at 308-645-2250.

NDEQ News

For more information, contact
NDEQ's Public Information Office, (402) 471-4223 or (402) 471-4243

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July 23 Meeting to Discuss Proposed Chemigation Fee Revisions

June 25, 2014 -- The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is seeking early public involvement as it develops proposed changes to Title 195 – Chemigation Regulations.  NDEQ has scheduled a public outreach meeting at 9 a.m. July 23 at NDEQ’s offices at 1200 N St., Lincoln.  The purpose of this meeting/telephone conference call will be to explain the concept of the proposed changes and to invite public input.

NDEQ intends to develop draft revisions to Title 195 in the fall of 2014 and plans to present proposed Title 195 revisions to the Environmental Quality Council at a hearing in February 2015.  The changes are being developed to carry out LB 272, which was passed by the Nebraska Legislature and signed by the Governor in February 2014.

LB 272 allows Nebraska Resources Districts (NRDs) to set the fees for chemigation permits.  The department will propose to amend Title 195 accordingly.  NDEQ also intends to also add a definition in Title 195 that defines “working day” to be consistent with LB 272.

This information and other changes that may be needed to clarify the regulations will be explained in more detail at the July 23 meeting/conference call.  A teleconference line (888-820-1398, attendee code 3453474#) will be available for participants who cannot attend the meeting in person.  For more information, contact NDEQ at NDEQ.moreinfo@nebraska.gov, or call (402) 471-2186 in Lincoln, toll-free at 1-877-253-2603.

Successful 5th Annual ACE Camp

      From June 15th through June 18th, campers from across the state of Nebraska attended the fifth annual Adventure Camp about the Environment (ACE) at the State 4-H Camp near Halsey. The camp drew in 32 campers and included some previous campers, too. Many of the campers attended the camp through a scholarship from their local NRD.
      The educational camp focused on forestry, rangeland, water quality, soils and wildlife. Campers had the chance to get their hands dirty and experience nature in many activities, as well as fun time in the river, and building water rockets. The campers also participated in competition activities with outdoor cooking, fishing, a scavenger hunt, geocaching, and other games. This was a great opportunity for the campers to learn more about nature and the natural resources in our area.
      This year was the fifth year for the ACE Camp. In June of 2010, the first Adventure Camp about the Environment was held with a total of 55 campers from across the state. The ACE Camp Committee hopes to continue this camp for many more successful years. KNOP-TV News from North Platte captured a few moments from the camp on Monday and aired the story that evening and night.
      The camp was sponsored and organized by the Nebraska Natural Resources Districts (NRDs), the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD) and the Hooker County Turner Youth Initiative. Presenters from the NRD's, NRCS office, UNL extension office, and Nebraska Game and Parks also helped to make the ACE Camp a great learning experience for the kids. With the help from these sponsors, partners and presenters from year to year, ACE Camp beomes a huge success.
      Local ACE Camp Scholarship Recipients from the Upper Loup NRD were J. Russell McMillan of Milburn, Aubrey Schultis and Jared Schultis of Tryon, Hollianna Watson of North Platte, and Taylor Downing of Dunning.
      Adventure Camp about the Environment is an annual camp beginning the third week of June. For more information about the camp you can look under the Education Tab, then click on Camps & Scholarships.

Recycle Update

From MDK Zero Landfill—From January 1 to March 31, 2014, the Upper Loup NRD has recycled 42,980 pounds of materials with MDK. This amount of materials has impacted the environment in multiple ways. The below illustration demonstrated the positive outcomes that originated from our recycling efforts with MDK.