MINUTES OF THE
NEBRASKA NATURAL
RESOURCES COMMISSION MEETING
Gering Civic Center
Gering, Nebraska
Those in attendance were:
LeRoy Pieper, Chair Steve
Chick
Wayne Davis, Member Dean
Edson
Beverly Donaldson, Member Lyndon Vogt
Frank Bartak, Member Ron
Cacek
Vince Kramper, Member Bob Gifford
Garry Anderson, Member Tom Mountford
Clinton Johannes, Member Eric Gottschalk
Robert Hahn, Member Roger
Helgoth
Roger Korell, Member Allen
Moeller
Jim Van Marter, Member Cliff Johnson
Wayne Madsen, Member Roger
Patterson, Director
Don Larson, Member Jim
Cook, Staff
Joe Hergott, Member Tom
Pesek, Staff
Richard Jiskra, Chair Tom Hayden, Staff
Arlond Garratt, Member Jim Ostdiek, Staff
Don Roberts, Member Gayle Starr, Staff
Wayne Boilesen Wayne
Buller
Commission
Chair, LeRoy Pieper, called the meeting to order at approximately 9:00 a.m. in
a meeting room at the Gering Civic Center in Gering, Nebraska.
NOTICE OF
THE MEETING
Notice
of the meeting was placed in the LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR and the SCOTTSBLUFF
STAR-HERALD
on July 12, 2001, 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. Nebraska Resources
Development Fund Present Financial Status Report, June 30, 2001.
2. Small Watersheds Flood
Control Fund – Inventory of Fee Title Lands
3. Status of Small Watersheds
Flood Control Fund, and Projected Funding Requests.
4. Letter from Lower Platte
North NRD on Skull Creek 55 Project Update and Request.
5. Soil & Water
Conservation Fund, Expenditures by Month 1993-2001.
6. Natural Resources Enhancement Fund – FY
2000-2001 Distribution.
7.
NRCS
report to the NNRC and NARD
8. Estimated Natural Resources Water Quality Fund Distribution –
July, 2001.
MINUTES
Motion
was made by Kramper and seconded by Roberts to approve the minutes of the May
22 & May 23, 2001, Commission meetings as distributed. Motion carried.
Aye: Jiskra, Donaldson, Bartak, Anderson, Garratt, Larson, Kramper,
Korell, Madsen, Van Marter, Johannes, Hahn, Roberts, Hergott, Davis, Pieper
Nay: None
Not
Present: None
EXPENDITURES
It was
noted that the expenditure reports for the various funds for April, May and
June 2001, had been made available and would be attached to the file copy of
the minutes.
ADVISOR’S COMMENTS
Steve Chick, State Conservationist, Natural
Resources Conservation Service, distributed a NRCS report to the Commission and
briefly reviewed several of the items on the report. He also reviewed Congressional activity regarding the NRCS
proposed budget. Chick also showed a
series of slides depicting the background of the NRCS efforts to develop a
biological assessment that would determine the Platte River Basin depletions of
the NRCS designed on-farm conservation practices. He added that the Fish & Wildlife Service has agreed with
their final revised version of the biological assessment.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Roger Patterson briefly
reviewed several personnel changes on the DNR staff. He also noted the agency’s Floodplain Management Section had been
recognized nationally by FEMA for their innovative work in floodplain
delineations.
He noted that there is
interest in the northeast corner of the Middle Republican NRD in transferring
about 40 square miles from the Middle Republican NRD to the Central Platte NRD
because that area is part of the Platte River Basin. He added that if this request comes forward to the Commission,
the Commission will need to have a hearing on this issue and act on their
request.
Patterson also commented
briefly on the water administration and water supply situation in the
state. He noted that because of an
article in the LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR in June concerning registration of wells
the groundwater staff has been overwhelmed with a large number of registrations
and changes in ownership the last couple of weeks.
ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST
Vince
Kramper noted that the Environmental Trust Board had not had a recent meeting
but that funds were being distributed for the various projects that the Board
approved several months ago. Roger
Patterson
noted
that the Trust was undergoing a review to determine if some changes needed to
be made in the procedures and operation of the Trust.
REPUBLICAN RIVER ACTIVITIES
Patterson added that the Special Master on the Kansas vs. Nebraska case
was moving the case along quickly and that it is currently scheduled to go to
trial in March, 2003. He added that the
Special Master is encouraging the parties involved to attempt to negotiate a
settlement. He also noted that the
Special Master would be touring the Basin with representatives of the states
and the federal government on July 26-28.
Gayle
Starr noted that the 8:00 a.m. hearing on the rule and regulation revisions had
been attended by all Commission members and that it would be in order for the
Commission to take action on the revisions.
Motion was made by Kramper and seconded by Korell to
adopt the amendments to the following rules and regulations of the Department
of Natural Resources:
Title
256, Regulations Governing the Administration of the NebraskaResources
Development Fund
Title
257, Rules and Regulations Governing the Small Watersheds Flood Control Fund
Title
259, Rules and Regulations Governing Administraiton of the Water Well
Decommissioning Fund
Chapters
1 through 7, Title 262, Regulations Governing the Administration of the
Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation Program, and
Title
263, Regulations Governing the Administration of the Natural Resources
Enhancement Fund (renamed the Natural Resources Water Quality Fund), and to
repeal in its entirety Chapter 8 of
Title 262, Regulations Governing Administration of Cost-Share Funds for
Republican River Basin Water Measuring Devices. Motion carried.
Aye: Donaldson, Bartak, Anderson, Garratt, Larson, Kramper, Korell, Madsen, Van Marter, Johannes, Hahn, Roberts, Hergott, Davis, Jiskra, Pieper
Nay: None
Not
Present: None
COMPREHENSIVE
PLANNING COMMITTEE
Gayle Starr noted that
the Annual Report and Plan of Work of the Planning and Review process had been
provided to Commission members for their review. He then briefly reviewed the contents of the report and noted
that if Commission members had questions or comments on the report they should
be provided to Steve Gaul.
PROGRAM
COMMITTEE
Tom Pesek distributed
and reviewed the status report on the Resources Development Fund. Davis called on Roger Helgoth who provided
the Commission a briefing and responded to questions on the Lake Ericson
Resources Development Fund project application and feasibility report. Tom Mountford and Eric Gottshalk provided
the Commission a briefing on Skull Creek’s sites 30 and 31 Resources
Development Fund project proposal.
Tom Pesek and Tom Mountford
discussed the request of the Lower Platte North NRD to perform work at Skull
Creek Site 55 utilizing NRD personnel and equipment. Motion was made by Jiskra and seconded by Larson to approve
the Lower Platte North NRD’s request to complete certain items of the
recreation facilities of Skull Creek Site 55, which have an estimated cost of
$15,000 and to receive reimbursement from the Natural Resources Development
Fund for time and materials. Motion
carried.
Aye: Bartak, Anderson, Garratt,
Larson, Kramper, Korell, Madsen, Van Marter, Johannes, Hahn, Roberts,
Hergott, Davis, Jiskra, Donaldson, Pieper
Nay: None
Not
Present: None
Tom
Pesek distributed the Small Watersheds Flood Control Fund status report and
briefly reviewed it. He indicated that
the example status report provided information for the Commission to establish
a revolving fund base on the Small Watersheds Flood Control Fund for fiscal
year 2001-02. Motion was made by Van
Marter and seconded by Kramper to establish the revolving fund base of the
Small Watersheds Flood Control Fund of $800,000 for FY 2002. Motion carried.
Aye: Anderson, Garratt, Larson, Kramper, Korell, Madsen, Van Marter,
Johannes, Hahn, Roberts, Hergott, Davis, Jiskra, Donaldson, Bartak, Pieper
Nay: None
Not Present: None
Pesek
reviewed the inventory of fee title properties and indicated that he had
visited with sponsors and was recommending the sale of two tracts in fiscal
year 2003. Motion was made by
Kramper and seconded by Jiskra to schedule the sale of the 160-acre Wusk tract
and the 80-acre Janssen tract, both at Middle Big Nemaha, Site 3 in FY
2003. Motion carried.
Aye: Garratt, Larson, Kramper, Korell, Madsen, Van Marter, Johannes,
Hahn, Roberts, Hergott, Davis, Jiskra, Donaldson, Bartak, Anderson, Pieper
Nay: None
Not Present: None
Gayle Starr distributed status reports for the Soil and Water
Conservation Fund, the Republican well meter fund, the Natural Resources
Enhancement Fund, the Natural Resources Water Quality Fund, the Water Well
Commissioning Fund and reviewed those various reports.
Gayle
Starr explained that approximately $800,000 remains in the Republican Basin
Well meter fund and that the staff recommendation was that the remaining funds
be utilized for meters in any portion of the Republican Basin. Starr and Patterson discussed the reason for
this recommendation. A letter from John
Thorburn, Manager of the Tri-Basin NRD, was distributed and it was noted that
the letter requested that the remaining Republican Basin funds be utilized for
irrigation water management practices (NC-17) in the Republican Basin as long
as a meter was either included with the practice or had been previously
installed on that well. Motion was
made by Bartak and seconded by Johannes to utilize the remaining Republican
Basin meter funds for 50% cost-share on meters anywhere in the Republican
Basin, conditional on the approval of the rules and regulations and that the
funds be initially allocated among the NRDs based on the relative number of
currently registered wells in each NRD involved, conditional upon the approval
of the rules and regulations by the Attorney General and the Governor. An amendment to the motion was submitted by
Roberts to provide that the funds could be utilized for NC-17 practices in the
Middle Republican Basin as long as the practice included a meter or a meter had
been previously installed on the well.
The amendment died for lack of a second. Motion carried.
Aye: Kramper,
Korell, Madsen, Van Marter, Johannes, Hahn, Roberts, Hergott, Davis, Jiskra,
Donaldson, Bartak, Anderson, Garratt, Pieper
Nay: Larson
Not Present: None
Starr explained that the staff recommendation was that the additional
$500,000 of NSWCP funds be utilized for 50% cost-share on the installation of
well meters anywhere in the state outside of the Republican Basin and in an
area that is included in an NRD water management area and that the funds be
allocated based on the relative number of currently registered irrigation wells
in each of the water management areas, conditional upon the approval of the
rules and regulations by the Attorney General and Governor. Motion was made by Jiskra and seconded by
Korell to accept the staff recommendation.
Aye: Kramper, Korell, Madsen, Van Marter, Johannes, Hahn, Roberts,
Hergott, Davis, Jiskra, Donaldson, Bartak, Anderson, Garratt, Pieper
Nay: Larson
Not
Present: None
It was
noted that the Commission needed to take action on the distribution of natural
resources water quality funds and the staff recommendation was that the funds
be distributed 60% on the basis of fertilizer sales in each NRD; 20% divided
equally among the NRDs and 20% divided on the basis of the area of water quality management areas in each
NRD. Motion was made by Roberts and
seconded by Hahn to distribute the funds 60% on the basis of fertilizer sales
in each NRD; 20% divided equally, and 20% on the basis of water quality
management areas in each NRD, conditional upon the approval of the rules and
regulations by the Attorney General and Governor. Motion carried.
Aye: Madsen, Van Marter, Johannes, Hahn, Roberts, Hergott, Davis,
Jiskra, Donaldson, Bartak, Anderson, Garratt, Larson, Kramper, Korell, Pieper
Nay: None
Not
Present: None
Jim Van Marter and others noted that the tour provided by the North Platte NRD and specifically
LeRoy Pieper, Tom Hayden, Ron Cacek and others was very beneficial to the Commission and provided an excellent view of activities in that part of the state as well as into Wyoming.
NEXT MEETING
The
next meeting for the Commission will be September 25 in Kearney in connection
with the NARD annual conference.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at
approximately 11:35 a.m.
___________________________________ ____________________________________
Chairman Director of Natural Resources