300 SE Nebraska Farmers Receive Shutoff Notices For Surface Withdrawals From Big Blue River
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) About 300 farmers who pump irrigation water out of the Big Blue River in southeast Nebraska won't be able to do so until further notice, because water levels are too low.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources sent shut-off notices Monday to farmers with surface water rights issued after Nov. 1, 1968.
Keith Paulsen, head of the agency's Lincoln field office, said the orders were necessary to comply with a compact between Nebraska and Kansas that requires a certain amount of water to flow across state lines in the Big Blue and Little Blue basins.
Paulsen said the agency's order affects about 500 surface water right permits in the Big Blue River basin, or about 300 individual farmers. The area includes the following Gage, Saline, Seward, Butler, Polk, York, Hamilton and Adams counties.
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