Groundwater levels are rising

LINCOLN — Many underground aquifers in the eastern two-thirds of Nebraska rebounded slightly in recent years, according to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln report.

Increases of underground water levels of more than 1 foot occurred in a broad area of north-central, northeast, south-central and southeast Nebraska from 2008 to 2009.

Increases of more than 5 feet occurred in large portions of Clay, Fillmore and York Counties in the southeast, Buffalo County in the central region and Platte County in the northeast. There were several smaller areas with greater than 5-foot increases in the same region.

Even portions of western Nebraska, long plagued by severe drought, saw relief. There were small scattered groundwater level increases in Red Willow, Frontier, Chase and Perkins Counties in the southwest and Scotts Bluff, Morrill and Sheridan Counties in the Panhandle.

Precipitation was the main reason.

The information is contained in the first comprehensive statewide groundwater level monitoring report that UNL has published in 10 years. Statistics on groundwater levels for all 93 counties are included.

The report’s authors were Jesse Korus, a groundwater geologist in the School of Natural Resources, and geoscientist Mark Burbach.

Increased precipitation directly recharged the aquifer in areas of shallow water tables and permeable soils, Korus said.

Much of central Nebraska received more than 130 percent of the area’s 30-year average precipitation in 2008. In areas such as Buffalo, Dawson and Gosper counties, precipitation was as much as 180 percent of average.

In typically rain-starved western Nebraska, some counties recorded up to 120 percent of average precipitation, while no county was lower than 70 percent of average.

“The more abundant moisture likely resulted in reduced pumping for irrigation,’’ Korus said.

Despite the relatively good news, some parts of the state saw continuing declines in groundwater levels.

In portions of Keith, Perkins, Dundy and Chase Counties in southwest Nebraska, declines ranged from 1 foot to more than 8 feet. Annual declines also were recorded in Box Butte, Sheridan and Cheyenne Counties in the Panhandle, averaging 1 to 5 feet.

Groundwater levels also remained below spring 2000 levels over most of the state because of to widespread drought conditions from 2000 to 2007.

Large areas of declining groundwater levels remained in south-central, southwest and far western Nebraska, a decades-long trend that corresponds with the start of intensive groundwater irrigation.

The groundwater maps may be downloaded for free at the School of Natural Resources Web site at http://snr.unl.edu/data/water/groundwatermaps.asp.

Contact the writer:

444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com

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