No action on Niobrara plan

TEKAMAH, Neb. — A strategy to preserve water in Nebraska's premier canoeing river for recreation, fish and wildlife remained adrift Thursday.

Nebraska Game and Parks commissioners took no action on a proposal that the agency do more to avoid being swamped by farmers and others in a possible rush for water in the future.

Whether commissioners will debate the issue at their next meeting in January remains uncertain.

Taking another few months to calm the waves after already investing more than three years in the process won't hurt, some commissioners said.

“We need to get this right,'' said Mick Jensen of Blair.

State Sen. Deb Fischer, whose north-central Nebraska district includes the popular scenic-paddling stretch of the Niobrara River, is drafting her own “comprehensive solution.'' She has said the commission should go slow.

“I don't feel a rush,'' she said from her Valentine home. “Nothing is going to change in the basin right now.''

At issue is a resolution directing the agency to petition the state water czar to allow Game and Parks to file, under certain circumstances, for a legal right to Niobrara water to protect recreational floating. State officials have determined that no extra water remains in the river for new uses.

“We need to have our materials prepared and ready to file so we don't find ourselves at the back of the line if water becomes available,'' said Don Gabelhouse, the Game and Parks fisheries manager.

The Nebraska Wildlife Federation and Friends of the Niobrara urged commissioners meeting at Pheasant Bonanza near Tekamah to approve the resolution.

“The Niobrara River is not a statewide problem. It's a statewide opportunity,'' said Mel Thornton of Lincoln, president of Friends of the Niobrara. “Now is the time to act.''

Commissioners took no action. Several said afterward that the issue is complex.

“It's a contentious issue,'' Jen- sen said. “Understanding Senator Fischer's concerns is my big concern right now.''

Dr. Kent Forney of Lincoln, a veterinarian, said Game and Parks should finish its studies of the river before making a decision.

“It can't be based on anything selfish,'' he said. “It has to be what's best for society.''

Mark Pinkerton of Wilber said the commission's next step could depend on what Fischer proposes in her plan.

“We're charged with looking after the natural resources of the state, so we've got to have a place at the table,'' he said. “So does agriculture.''

The Nebraska Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization, has taken no position on the issue, but the Game and Parks plan to seek a recreational water right concerns agricultural interests.

Jay Rempe, a Farm Bureau lobbyist, said from Lincoln that Game and Parks could instead find people who live near the Niobrara to represent the commission's view on panels that decide how the river will be managed.

Commissioner Lynn Berggren of Broken Bow, whose Game and Parks district includes the Niobrara, said it's time to pull the plug and for the agency to spend its limited money in better ways than pursuing a right to the river's water.

“I'm not for it,'' he said. “Game and Parks needs to stay out of this. It's studied enough.''