By Russ Pankonin
    The Imperial Republican
     Two senators from southwest Nebraska received praise from the governor Tuesday following the passage of water bill LB 1094.
     The bill, introduced by 38th District Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege and prioritized by 44th District Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial, sailed through the final round of legislative debate Monday.
     The bill passed by a resounding 46-0 vote, which forwarded it to the governor's desk.
     After the vote Monday, Christensen was elated. He said his colleagues made good on the state's word to get surface water irrigators paid for water they leased to natural resource districts (NRDs) last summer.
     Governor Dave Heineman didn't take long to sign the bill, inking it during a ceremony at the capitol Tuesday morning.
     Heineman said Carlson stood out as a determined proponent of the bill and overcame budget issues and other challenges to work the bill through the Legislature.
     He noted Christensen began addressing water issues in the Republican River Basin from the time he was sworn in last year and has continued to do that with passage of this bill.
    What LB 1094 does
     With the passage of LB 1094, surface water irrigators who sold their surface water last summer will be paid the money promised them-about $9 million.
     In the 2007 Legislature, Christensen shepherded LB 701, which provided a revenue source to allow NRDs to issue bonds to pay for surface water purchases.
     Those purchases were intended to help Nebraska stay in compliance with a 2002 settlement with Kansas over water use in the Republican Basin.
     LB 701 allowed NRDs to levy an additional 10 cents per $100 of valuation on all property in the basin. In addition, NRDs could also charge an occupation tax of up to $10 per irrigated acre in the basin. This money was intended to be used to retire the bonds sold to finance the water purchases.
     A McCook-based group called Friends of the River challenged the constitutionality of the tax levy in late 2007.
     This court action created uncertainty about the bill's levy-funding authority.
     As a result, bond issuers shied away from issuing bonds for the surface water repayment, leaving about 300 surface water owners in the basin in financial limbo.
     Heineman explained that LB 1094 creates a special fund to receive about $9 million from the state's cash reserves. The Department of Natural Resources will then loan the NRDs the money to get the surface water irrigators paid.
     Since the occupation tax is not being challenged, the mechanism remains in place to generate funds to pay the state cash reserve fund back.
     The governor said the funds should be transferred within 15 days and that irrigators should be paid by the end of the legislative session.
    Timing of bill signing key
     Christensen said he felt fortunate the governor signed the bill right away, rather than waiting.
     By doing so, Christensen said it keeps intact negotiations to purchase some stream flows from the Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District this year.
     Christensen said the deal negotiated by Ann Bleed, who retired last week as head of DNR, does not ask farmers to give up water but instead asks them not to take water from the stream until June 23.
     The goal, Christensen said, is to get more water into Harlan County Reservoir near Alma. If Harlan has 119,000 acre feet of water in storage, it moves Nebraska out of a water-short year declaration.
     Under a water-short year declaration, consumptive use for compact compliance purposes is averaged over a two-year period, instead of a three-year period under normal conditions.
     Right now, Christensen said Harlan is only about 3,000 acre-feet short of the 119,000 acre-foot goal. With additional water running into Harlan until late June, he feels the goal will be exceeded.
    DNR search will wait for now
     During the signing ceremony, the governor was asked about the timeline for filling Bleed's vacated position.
     He said he wants to get through the current legislative session before addressing that. "We will conduct an appropriate search at that time," he said.
     Presently, state statute requires the head of DNR be an engineer. Christensen feels this requirement needs to change.
     In return, a state hydrologist position would be reinstated and that person would have to be a water engineer and would answer directly to the DNR director.
     On Monday, Christensen met with the governor to discuss making the change yet this session.
     Now would be the opportune time since the position is vacant and there's such a focus on water, Christensen said.
     The governor told Christensen the only way he would support the change would be if the senator could get enough votes to insure passage without a floor fight.
     Christensen said he canvassed the senators late Monday afternoon and evening and had at least 36 senators in favor of the change. Another five said they would support it if it moved forward.
     Christensen said Sen. Ernie Chambers was one of the 36 in favor. His blessing meant that he wouldn't initiate a floor battle over the bill.
     However, Christensen's plan hit a road block late Tuesday. He said several different lobbying interests weren't satisfied with the proposed changes. As a result, opposition to the bill was starting to develop.
     Without a clear path, he decided not to pursue the change this session. However, he intends to seek the change next year.