Thursday, October 25, 2012: 3:20 p.m.
Floodwaters in the Platte River system during the spring of 2011 provided an opportunity for water resources managers to test Nebraska's ability to help mitigate flooding while providing potential water supply benefits for decades to come. The principle that high flows provide water to connected aquifers is well known and is not new, but actively managing waters to exploit this principle is not so common. Augmenting the natural recharge into the aquifer by diverting high flows into irrigation canals in the non-irrigation season can be beneficial to the stressed Platte River system. Nebraska believes that retiming flows for future benefits will help our producers, our regulators, our streams by helping reduce flood risk and mitigating for groundwater use or climate variability. This presentation will provide an overview of ongoing or proposed augmented recharge projects in Nebraska and discuss their potential benefits for reducing flooding damages and providing additional usable water supply.
