Published Tuesday
January 9, 2007

No pay for irrigators

As long as Gov. Dave Heineman's Water Policy Task Force is dominated by irrigation interests, the focus of that esteemed body will be to acquire funds from all state taxpayers to pay irrigators not to use water that does not belong solely to them in the first place.

Population-wise, fewer than 3 percent of Nebraskans are irrigators, yet they consume well over 90 percent of the water used in the state. They pay only the cost of delivery for that water and nothing for the water itself.

These select few are the same folks who for generations have paid nothing for the oceans of water they have consumed - waters that were and are legally owned by each and every Nebraskan. For them to demand reimbursement for not using our water is like a would-be thief demanding money from a victim who has locked his home to avoid a robbery.

Is it not reasonable to establish a "per acre-foot" user fee on all water consumed in Nebraska? Proceeds from such a fee could be dedicated to resolving interstate water deficits and to easing the state's property-tax burden.
Robert O'Dell, Grand Island, Neb.