STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSEs MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann

 UNL Extension Educator,

Webster County

                                                   January 11, 2013 Edition

     Anyone that lives in the South Central area of Nebraska is very much aware of the value of water and of course the problems with water we have been having with the Republican River. I guess you could say one problem is what was caused by the several years of drought that started about 2000, and for those that are historically challenged - the 2012 drought, and yes of course the potential for a 2013 continued drought. But the problem I am going to address with a compact that we signed in 1943 as a part of a Federal grant to put a series of dams in the river, including Harlan County. I don’t think many people even knew that this compact existed until we were sued by Kansas several years ago.
     In this past decade we have particularly tried to be good stewards of our land and our water. We have through our NRD went into a moratorium on drilling wells, metered wells and put in restrictions for water use in irrigation. A lot of work has been done through the Twin Valley Weed Management Association in conjunction with grant projects with groups like the Nebraska Environmental Trust, stipends and help from the State of Nebraska spearheaded by Senator Tom Carlson and LB701. You can find out more about these efforts by going to our website at: http://www.twinvalleywma.com.  The association has done many activities like deep disking the channel and sandbars; clearing the channel of debris and unwanted species of trees, shrubs and grasses; as well as spraying phragmites, saltcedar and other invaders with helicopters, ATVs and by foot. When we did get rain, you could physically see the difference in scouring of the river, water quantity and velocity. The TVWMA will continue this thrust to help preserve the water and basin integrity in the Republican River Valley and comply with the compact with Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska.  
   Farmers have helped considerably with being some of the earliest adaptors of no-till farming operations, use of low output irrigation systems and working with the NRD in retiring irrigated acres to help take the pressure off the entire basin. They have complied to the moratorium, meters, and restrictions of water use and irrigation. Our NRD’s have worked to keep the water running - so to speak - with several thrusts including the latest effort in the Lincoln County land acquisition/water project. But still Kansas continued their efforts to sue Nebraska and particularly the Republican Valley basin based on the stipulations set by a compact 6 years older than me. That should tell you something. This thing had gone back and forth, meeting after meeting, Nebraska legislation, attorney general efforts and a very long time of waiting to see what the results would be of the ruling of a special water master appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court. We were told we would probably know by this week. Well we did find out and it boils down to the fact that there is good news this week for Nebraska and particularly the Republican Valley in its dispute with Kansas over the Republican River Compact.
    This special water master, from Maine of all places, ruled that Kansas might be entitled to five-million dollars, but not the 80-million it was demanding. The two states have a couple of weeks to comment on the finding before it is forwarded to the Supreme Court. However I am sure that we can expect more legal wrangling as the drought lingers and water becomes ever more precious. The decision is especially good news for Republican Valley irrigators in that the special master denied Kansas’ requests for injunctive relief. That means their irrigation wells will not be shut off in order to comply with the 1943 Republican River Compact. That doesn’t mean we can irrigate like we did years ago, but it is a step in the right direction.
     The special master however did determine Nebraska violated the compact in 2005 and 2006 by exceeding its water use by nearly 71-thousand acre feet. That finding prompted the five-million dollars in damages. There is, of course, questions facing the state on such water issues like who should pay the tab: just the farmers who primarily use the water, or all taxpayers. There are a lot of valid points on both sides of that, but we are getting closer to resolution. I do think that the special master made the right decision, now we just have to see how the appeals come out. You have to believe that we finally are getting to the point that we can start seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
    Weeds of course are a big problem in and along the river, but they also can haunt farms and gardens. It is not unusual for our office to have several plants find their way into our office to see if they are a weed and what it is. There may be some help for those that are technically savvy. University of Missouri Extension has released a free app for iPhones, iPads and Android devices to help people easily identify weeds in the field, lawn or garden and help them become the expert. The app, called ID Weeds, has information on more than 400 plant species that could be encountered as weeds in crop fields, pastures, lawns, gardens or aquatic areas. ID Weeds lets users narrow the list of suspects with a series of drop-down boxes for various plant characteristics. Don't worry if you're not familiar with technical terms such as "ligules" or "spatulate."
     For most characteristics, users can click on "what's this?" to see an illustration. Clicking on "Identify" will produce a list of weeds that match the characteristics you've chosen. The more characteristics you specify, the shorter the list will be. Selecting a weed on the list brings up detailed information and one or more photographs. You can also look up a weed by searching for its common or scientific name, or select from an alphabetical list, from "Alligatorweed" to "Yucca." To download: iPhone and other iOS devices:  https://itunes.apple.com/app/id-weeds/id559906313  for Android: Search for "ID Weeds" at https://play.google.com/store There is also a web version is available at http://weedid.missouri.edu/   Have fun!

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home