Jack Russell and Sylvia Johnson: Advancing Groundwater Management at the Middle Republican Natural Resources District
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he Middle Republican Natural Resources District (MRNRD) is one of Nebraska’s 23 natural resources districts (NRDs), watershed-based local agencies that handle a wide variety of environmental issues across the state, including groundwater quantity and quality, soil erosion, and flood prevention. One of the MRNRD’s main focuses today is on groundwater management. To further this goal, it has acquired a WaterSMART grant from the Bureau of Reclamation to put updated telemetry meters on all its wells. The end goal is to provide all its farmers with realtime information on their water use, soil moisture, and other useful information. In this interview, MRNRD Manager Jack Russell and Assistant Manager Sylvia Johnson update us on the achievements of the metering program and their plans for the future. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your backgrounds and how you came to be in your current positions. Jack Russell: I was born and raised on a farm in Riverton, Nebraska. My family has lived along the Kansas-Nebraska border for as long as I know. I spent some time working in Colorado and North Dakota and came back to Nebraska 6½ years ago to work at the MRNRD. Sylvia Johnson: I was born and raised in Alma, Nebraska, on a farm and ranch, and my husband and I farm and ranch as well. I am the assistant manager of the MRNRD. I’ve been here a little over 10 years. Irrigation Leader: Tell us about the MRNRD.
Irrigation Leader: How much groundwater can your irrigators use in a season?
8 | IRRIGATION LEADER | April 2021
Ken Seim of Seim Ag Technology checking one of the MRNRD’s new telemetry meters.
Jack Russell: Right now, groundwater irrigators have an allocation of 12 inches a year, spread out over a 5‑year allocation period, meaning that they can use 60 inches over 5 years. If they don’t use their entire allotment during the 5‑year allocation period, they can carry over 1 year’s allocation, giving a potential maximum of 72 inches in an allocation period. Most of our water users manage their water well enough that they usually carry water over from each allocation period. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your metering project. irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MRNRD.
Jack Russell: The MRNRD is one of three NRDs that cover the Republican River basin in Nebraska. We cover a little more than four counties and have about 295,000 acres of irrigated land. When the NRDs were formed in 1972, they were given taxing authority, and during the 1990s, the NRDs were given statutory authority related to groundwater management. In 1998, a lawsuit was filed related to the Republican River Compact between Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, and after the Supreme Court ruled on the matter in 2002, one of the final settlement stipulations was for the NRDs in the Republican River basin to put meters on all irrigation wells.
