NEBRASKA /A.P. NEWS
SUPREME COURT NIXES LAKE MAC SUIT OVER NP-NRD
By John Axtell
Aug 27, 2010 - 10:19:30 AM

    The Nebraska Supreme Court has turned down a request from Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District ... owner of Lake McConaughy, to reinstate its lawsuit against the North Platte Natural Resources District over irrigation wells upstream of the lake.

      The high court ruled that Central Nebraska failed to show how it or its constituents were harmed by groundwater use allowed by the NRD, and couldn't challenge the NRD's use of water based upon the interests of Central's constituents.

     The court described the claims that the NRD's actions in allowing greater use of underground water for irrigation than Central wanted could lead to the destruction of Lake McConaughy as "apocalyptic rhetoric."
    
      Central has argued for years that irrigation wells along the North Platte River and its tributaries upstream of Lake McConaughy have sharply reduced rivers ... taking away water that should be going into the lake for distribution to Central's customers.

      The North Platte NRD has imposed a number of restrictions on new and existing wells, but Central says those restrictions still allow too much water use.

     It claims the situation helped drop the lake to near-record lows in the past decade, while the NRD says the multi-year drought was the culprit.

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