OWH January 12, 2007

BY DAVID HENDEE

LINCOLN - Gov. Dave Heineman's call for all Nebraskans to share in tackling the state's costly water problems got a lukewarm reception Thursday.

Agricultural interests said the governor's proposal would reach too deeply into farmers' pockets, while a city dweller said nonfarming Nebraskans would be stuck unfairly with a big bill.

Urban and rural Nebraskans alike would share in providing most of the proposed $128 million that Heineman said in his State of the State address is needed to address the state's water challenges.

Those challenges include excessive groundwater pumping in some regions, plus agreements that Nebraska has made with other states to put more water into the Platte and Republican Rivers.

Heineman called for $2.7 million a year from the state's general fund, revenue collected from taxes, over the next 12 years to provide $32.4 million for a new Water Resources Cash Fund.

He also called for corn and sorghum farmers to provide $44 million during that period by extending a tax levied on each bushel of grain produced. Other money for the fund would come from the Nebraska Environmental Trust and federal irrigation-reduction programs.

Steve Ebke of Daykin, past president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, said corn farmers shouldn't be asked to carry too much of the load. He said water troubles are a statewide problem that needs statewide help.

"We're not sure agriculture should have to bear that heavy of a burden," he said. "Agriculture's fair share needs to come from more of the ag sectors than just the corn industry."

Robert O'Dell of Grand Island sees it differently. A former Ogallala resident, he watched Lake McConaughy, the state's largest reservoir, shrink under the double whammy of drought and irrigation.

O'Dell said he is puzzled why he and most other Nebraskans should share their tax dollars to pay farmers to stop pumping water from the ground to irrigate crops.

"I see no reason for irrigators to be paid one red nickel for the water that they are not going to be able to pump," he said.

O'Dell said Heineman's plan doesn't significantly penalize irrigators for having caused some of the water problems by pumping too much groundwater.

"If I were an irrigator at this point, I would be rejoicing in the streets with great fervor (over) this proposal," he said.

O'Dell said Heineman's plan to use tax dollars to bail out farmers would confirm to irrigators that they have done nothing wrong.

Jay Rempe, the Nebraska Farm Bureau's government affairs director, said he wonders if the plan to tap the checkoff fund weighs too heavily on irrigated agriculture.

"Farmers realize they've got to be part of the mix," Rempe said.

"But most farmers think they'll be on the regulatory side of the solution - not the taxing side," by being required to operate under limited allocations of water or moratoriums on drilling more wells, he said.

The governor said his plan would provide a relatively equal level of responsibility for all Nebraskans.

He said creation of a state water fund recognizes the challenges in reducing the amount of water used to irrigate crops in areas of Nebraska where demand for water exceeds the sustainable supply and regions where water is subject to interstate agreements.

Heineman said the state's water issues are likely to linger and be more expensive than previously thought.

Nebraska needs to "begin saving money for an issue that may well last longer than a decade," he said.

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