The Upper Elkhorn NRD met for their regular board meeting June 23 at the NRD office in O’Neill.
One of the topics on the agenda was the 2014 Groundwater Irrigated Acres (GIA) sign up. A motion was made to cancel the October 2014 Groundwater Irrigated Acre Expansion signup.
By a vote of eight to five, the 2014 sign up for groundwater irrigated acres will be cancelled and as a result there will be no new groundwater irrigated acre expansion for the 2015 growing season.
One reason for the cancellation was the slow groundwater recovery due to the past drought conditions.
The Upper Elkhorn NRD noted that between 2013 and 2014, the district wide average static water level remained virtually unchanged. Applications for the transfer of groundwater irrigated acres are still scheduled and the sign up period will be November 1, 2014 through March 1, 2015.
For further information regarding the transfer of groundwater irrigated acres please visit the Upper Elkhorn NRD website at www.uenrd.org.
