New NRD Groundwater Development for 2014 Cancelled

The Upper Elkhorn NRD Board of Directors have voted to cancel the October 2013 Expansion of New Groundwater Irrigated Acres Sign-up.
By a vote of 9-4, the UENRD Board has cancelled new groundwater irrigated acre expansion planned for the 2014 growing season. This was not an easy decision. Due to the decline in groundwater levels across the district; a lack of recharge; and, the looming drought conditions, some felt giving the water table a chance to recharge would be in the best interest of our water resources.
The Board of Directors have voted, by a count of 10-3, to continue the Transfer of Groundwater Irrigated acres.
Anyone wishing to transfer acres can sign up from November 1 through March 1. The criteria for the transfer of acres will remain the same as last year. Acres to be transferred must be certified with the UENRD, be within the same hydrological unit code and be transferred from a higher stream depletion factor to a lower stream depletion factor.
All the information for this process can be found on the UENRD website at www.uenrd.org.
The Upper Elkhorn NRD consists of approximately 1,953,280 million acres with an estimated 450,000 to 500,000 groundwater irrigated acres and 4,363 active irrigation wells. The NRD is in the process of certifying groundwater irrigated acres to get a more accurate account of the usage. The process for certifying your groundwater irrigated acres can also be found on the UENRD website.