January 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM - Water Committee Meeting

Rationale:  Election of a chairperson, who will be on the executive committee and a vice chairperson.  

Rationale:  The meeting has been held on Wednesday night at 6 pm.  Do the Committee want to keep the same night and time?  One staff member prefers a different night. As there were only 2 Committee members present, no date was decided.  

The GMDA conference will be held February 25–27, which is the same week as the Committee meetings. Three staff members and two Committee members will be attending.  It was decided to hold the February Water Committee Meeting on Wednesday, March 5 at 6 pm.

Rationale:  Greg Kobza has applied for a supplemental well in S9-16N-3E, Butler County, Octavia Aquifer Area.   If the new well pumps enough, then he will call this a replacement well, but he wants the option to hook 2 wells together. 

The committee requested staff to reach out to Greg and invite him to the next Committee Meeting to explain his plan.   
Attached is a map.

Rationale:  The Nitrogen Reduction Act Applications are Listed in the pdf form. Staff has been revising applications. We have a list below of pre-approved applications. LPNNRD's total funding is $38,058.73. Staff will reach out to producers that are pre-approved and explain the process and check if they want to continue with the program. If the producer no longer wants to participate in the Nitrogen Reduction Act, staff will then look at the other applications.

Rationale:  Dan Stevenson applied for a RO unit cost share. His water was tested by LPNNRD staff. The results were 15.4 ppm. Our cost share application states that LPNNRD will cover 75% of equipment and installation costs for a water treatment system up to $800 as well as the registration cost of the domestic well which is $70.

Rationale:  Tri City Meters is finishing up meter maintenance. 

Rationale:  Upcoming Classes:

February 6 - ENREEC. Ithaca at 1 pm
February 13- Lindsay at 10 am
February 20-Fremont at 6 pm

Rationale:  Attached is the coalition's annual dues of $10,000, which was approved at the Coalition Board meeting in April 2024. The Coalition is 7 NRDs and NeDNR which meets annually to discuss stream depletion allotments and projects that could be beneficial for the Lower Platte River Basin Area. The dues are designated to help with the match if the group applies for a grant.      

Rationale:  An invoice is attached for December from LRE for $6,816.25 per contract for updating the plan.  
Two open houses were conducted in Wahoo and Platte Center. 
Items that were discussed or feedback received from these meetings for consideration:

• Watering of lawns in communities
• Large municipal water use
• Protect existing water users 
• Protect human health from contaminants
• Reverse Osmosis Units and replacement filters
• Water flow meters on all wells and electronic reads 
• Specific goals and objectives
• Special Quantity Area Boundaries Review
• Dedicated Monitoring Wells
• Domestic Wells and Permitting

The following is a description of the rules from LPNNRD Rules and Regulations.  Attached are 2 state statues on domestic wells. 
Rule 2.6    Domestic Wells
New or replacement water wells to be used for domestic purposes in the Special Quantity Subarea shall be constructed to such a depth that they are less likely to be affected by seasonal water level declines caused by other water wells in the same area.  Any person who installs a new or replacement water well for domestic purposes in the Special Quantity Subarea shall submit a certification from the water well contractor that the well was constructed in compliance with this section. The certification shall be submitted to the District within 90 days of completing construction.
 

Rationale:  The retreat is scheduled for Friday, February 7, from 10 am to 3 pm at NRD Boardroom in Wahoo.
Tentative Agenda:

1. NRD topics 
2. Groundwater Basics
3. Groundwater Management Plan Review
4. Recommendations Discussion
   1. Triggers, scoring sheets, observation wells, sub-areas
5. Open Groundwater Discussion
6. Karrie Webber will present on uranium contamination.

Rationale: 

No new wells have been reviewed and approved for decommissioning since the last Committee meeting.

Rationale: 

No wells have been plugged, reviewed, and ready for cost share payment approval this month.

Rationale:  The Abandoned well program has a total of 15 well abandonment waiting to be completed and plugged for cost share. Should we have an expiration for the applications? We have 5 applications that were reviewed in 2023, and one that was reviewed in 2021. The table below shows the number of wells that have been pre-approved for well decommissioning by year.
The committee requested staff to reach out on the application in 2021 and review 2023 applications.  
 

2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
2 wells	7 wells	5 wells	0	1 well

Rationale:  Two (2) invoices received: 
Tom Svatora - 2 flow meter cost-share at $1,000/meter for $2,000.