Technical Analyses that Inform Groundwater Policy Decisions in the Nebraska Panhandle

In the Nebraska Panhandle, two modeling efforts have been developed to provide decision support information, tools, and analyses of water resources policy decisions for the local Natural Resources Districts (NRD) and the State of Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. The NRDs are governmental entities with locally elected Board of Directors that are responsible for regulating and managing groundwater pumping over multiple counties.

The modeling efforts encompass nearly the entire Nebraska Panhandle between the Wyoming, Colorado, and South Dakota borders. The area includes three rivers, multiple small tributaries, and the High Plains Aquifer that locally consists of alluvial, aeolian (Nebraska Sandhills), Ogallala, and Arikaree aquifers. The Nebraska Panhandle is primarily rural and agricultural based with irrigation the primary water use. Numerous technical and modeling analyses that have been completed and include streamflow depletion, aquifer longevity, drought planning, and accretion analyses. Ultimately, the results of these analyses are used to help educate and inform the public, open up dialog on groundwater management, and provide the NRD Boards with information to aid their policy decisions to determine future groundwater pumping allocations. A review of these analyses provides an insight into the effort these NRDs take to understand their groundwater policy and management.