By Russ Pankonin
    The Imperial Republican
     Authority to allow natural resource districts to use bonding powers for compact compliance projects may well be headed for discussion by the Nebraska Legislature.
     Representatives from the NRDs in the Republican River Basin, along with the state NRD association, have been working on language that could be included in a bill for legislative consideration.
     Sen. Mark Christensen, 44th District senator from Imperial, said he got his first look at the proposal during a meeting Tuesday morning.
     Christensen said the meeting proved productive in working toward a solution to head Nebraska down a path to compliance with the compact settlement with Kansas.
    Water buyout eyed
     The NRDs in the basin are seeking to work with the Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District to lease or purchase their surface water stored in Strunk Reservoir, northwest of Cambridge.
     The legislation under consideration would allow the NRDs to join together to issue bonds for such an action. Repayment would be funded through authority for an occupation or per-acre fee on irrigated ground, an additional property tax levy of up to 10 cents per $100 of valuation and any state or federal funds.
     During a meeting last week, Frenchman-Cambridge indicated they were seeking $358 per acre for their water, along with maintenance fees for maintaining and paying for their canal system.
     Christensen said this equates to about $7.85 million to acquire the rights for one year.
     Discussion has also been held on the possibility of using the bonding mechanism to pay for permanently retiring surface water rights in the basin. However, no concrete negotiations have begun, the senator said.
    Language to be added
     Christensen said he would support the effort but didn't know whether the language will be put in his water bill, LB 701, or another bill.
     If placed in LB 701, that would mark the third revision the bill has gone through since being introduced by Christensen.
     He said it didn't really matter to him whether the language was in LB 701 or not, just as long as it gets to the floor.
     "I want to do what's best for the district," he noted.
     Last week, Holdrege Sen. Tom Carlson's bill, LB 458, to control vegetation alongside the Republican River channel and other streams, advanced out of committee on to the legislative floor.
     Christensen said it's possible the bonding language could be tacked on to that bill or several other bills still in the Natural Resources Committee.
     If that were to happen, Christensen said it's possible he won't have a bill of his own make it to the floor. However, if that's what's best for his district and the basin, he said he wasn't troubled by that.