MINUTES OF THE NEBRASKA NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION MEETING DECEMBER 11, 1997 Those in attendance were: Roy Stewart, Chair Nathan McCaleb Richard Mercer, Member Sara Kay LeRoy Pieper, Member Marlin Petermann Joseph Hergott, Member John Miyoshi Richard Jiskra, Member Tom Mountford Glen Kroese, Member Kathy Vasa Dale Watermeier, Member Don Kavan Beverly Donaldson, Member Dayle Williamson, Director Vince Kramper, Member Jim Cook, Staff Frank Bartak, Member Terry Kubicek, Staff Clifford Welsh, Member Tom Pesek, Staff Don Roberts, Member Gayle Starr, Staff Wilber Nelson, Member Wayne Davis, Member CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Commission Chair, Roy Stewart, at 10:00 a.m. in Lower Level Conference Room E in the Nebraska State Office Building in Lincoln, Nebraska. NOTICE OF THE MEETING Public notice of the meeting was placed in the LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR on December 3, 1997, notifying the public of the meeting. INFORMATIONAL MATERIAL The following items of informational material were distributed during the course of the meeting and a copy of each is attached to the file copy of the minutes. 1. "Success 2000 - A Vision for Nebraska's Future" brochure. 2. Nebraska Resources Development Fund Present Financial Status, Dec. 8, 1997. 3. Memo to File on Development Fund, Projected Funding Requests for FY 1999. 4. Status of Small Watersheds Flood Control Fund. 5. Soil & Water Conservation Fund. 6. Natural Resources Enhancement Fund Receipts, 1996 and 1997. 7. USDA 1996 Farm Bill Conservation Provisions. 8. "An Action Plan for Reducing Flood Risk in the West", Western Governors' Assn., Dec. 1997. 9. History of Nebraska Natural Resources Commission General Fund Appropriations. 10. Land Auction Notice for January 7, 1998. 11. Skull Creek Watershed Progress Report. 12. 1998 Legislative Memo #1. 13. Expenditures for October and November, 1997. 14. NRCS Report to NRC and NARD. MINUTES Motion was made by Kramper and seconded by Nelson to approve the minutes of the October 30, 1997, Commission meeting as distributed. Motion carried. Aye: Kroese, Roberts, Hergott, Jiskra, Watermeier, Nelson, Mercer, Davis, Donaldson, Pieper, Bartak, Kramper, Stewart Nay: None Not Present: Shaughnessy, Larson, Welsh EXPENDITURES Motion was made by Roberts and seconded by Jiskra to approve the expenditures for October and November 1997, as distributed. Motion carried. Aye: Roberts, Hergott, Jiskra, Watermeier, Nelson, Mercer, Davis, Donaldson, Pieper, Bartak, Kramper, Kroese, Stewart Nay: None Not Present: Larson, Welsh, Shaughnessy DIRECTOR'S REPORT Dayle Williamson noted that the staff had spent a considerable amount of time on hazardous mitigation issues and noted that 36 counties had been designated disaster areas in connection with the late October snowstorm. He added that as a member of the Platte River Governance Committee of the Cooperative Agreement with Colorado, Wyoming, and the federal government, he had attended several meetings recently and the committee is just getting organized and started with their work. He noted that they had advertised for an Executive Director and would probably be hiring a consulting firm in the next several months to manage their work. He added that several sub-committees have also been formed to deal with specific technical aspects and that each of them are also just beginning their work. Williamson also briefly commented on the Groundwater Guardian program of the Groundwater Foundation and noted that he and Richard Mercer had attended a Groundwater Foundation Board meeting in Oak Brook, Illinois recently. Williamson also commented briefly on the Nebraska Water Resources Association annual meeting held on December 1 and 2 and indicated that the topic of the meeting was water transfers and water sales. Williamson explained that NRCS has contracted with the LIED Center in Nebraska City to host their two week training program for new employees and that he had attended parts of the first session recently to evaluate those sessions and he will be submitting his comments to NRCS officials. Williamson also distributed a brochure outlining Governor Nelson's Success 2000 Program and a copy of a document entitled "An Action Plan for Reducing Flood Risks in the West" that had been adopted by the Western Governors' Association at a recent meeting. He added that he and Brian Dunnigan had been involved in preparing the paper. ADVISOR'S COMMENTS Nathan McCaleb, representing the Natural Resources Conservation Service, distributed a report to the Commission and briefly commented on the Conservation Reserve Program and soil surveys. Sara Kay, representing the Nebraska Water Resources Association, briefly commented on their annual meeting and noted that she was working with Commission staff to prepare a web site for the Association to better keep their members informed. ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST Richard Mercer noted that he was one of six Environmental Trust Board members serving on the Selection Committee for this year's grant program. He added that they had received applications for over thirty million dollars and that approximately 6.6 million dollars would be available. He added that the committee would be submitting their recommendation to the Board on January 27, and the Board expects to make a decision on grants at their February 10 meeting. LEGISLATION Jim Cook distributed a legislative report which summarizes those legislative bills carried over from the 1997 Session that have some relationship to natural resources issues. He specifically pointed out LB 540, which relates to NRD election sub-districts and LB 682, which would merge drainage districts with NRDs. Cook added that he would expect bills to be introduced relating to livestock waste issues and water sales and/or transfer issues and that it was possible that legislation could be introduced that would allow NRDs to become involved in cloud seeding programs. LB 1085 Vince Kramper reported that the LB 1085 Committee would be meeting at 1:30 in the NRC Conference Room. He noted that questionnaires had been sent to County Boards and NRDs asking for input and that the committee would be reviewing those responses at their meeting. COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING Joseph Hergott reported that the Comprehensive Planning Committee had met at 8:30 this morning with seven committee members and additional Commission members present. He noted that Terry Kubicek had briefed the committee on the problems being encountered in the preparation of digital ortho quads as it relates to determining specific county boundaries. Terry Kubicek added that about 70 percent of the "tagging" involved in the preparation of DOQs has been completed and about 40 percent of the DOQs have been finalized. Hergott explained that the staff had also briefed the committee on Data Bank issues and the recent receipt of population estimates and that Steve Gaul had briefed the committee on various Comprehensive Planning activities. PROGRAM COMMITTEE Dale Watermeier briefly commented on the tour of several Resources Development Fund projects that 12 Commission members were able to participate in yesterday. He noted that it was very helpful for the Commission members to be able to view the projects rather than just see pictures or maps of the projects. Williamson explained that there were significant issues involved with the Steven's Creek and Cedar Creek proposals and the amendment to the Weeping Water project involving Site 7G and that the staff would be working to prepare recommendations for the Steven's Creek and Cedar Creek proposals over the next couple of months. He added that he would want to work with Commission members in discussing these issues. Tom Pesek reviewed the status of the various Resources Development Fund Projects and distributed a paper outlining his estimates of the requests that might be received for the next fiscal year. Roy Stewart indicated that he had asked that an item be placed on the agenda to all