IRRIGATION RESTRICTIONS A POSSIBILITY IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA

(Associated Press/JournalStar.com) -- The AP reports that some Nebraska officials are suggesting "an irrigation shutdown in a large swath of the Republican River basin during dry years to help send Kansas the water it is owed."

An official who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity said that "under the plan presented to natural resources districts, groundwater wells within possibly a couple miles of the river and its main tributaries that irrigate between 250,000 acres and 334,000 acres would be shut down" during "water-short years when Harlan County Lake was less than about one-third full."

See the story at <http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/article_0eb3d738-9199-11de-91f2-001cc4c03286.html>

PIVOTS TOOK A BEATING

(Omaha World-Herald) - Nebraska farmers and irrigation suppliers are racing the clock to replace hundreds of storm-battered center pivots before the weather turns hot and dry. Perhaps as many as 500 center pivots were damaged or destroyed in the tornadoes and thunderstorms that hit the state this spring, said to Bobbie Kriz-Wickham, a policy analyst with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. More precise figures remained unavailable Monday. Many farmers who lost the pricey equipment find themselves on waiting lists for replacement pivots and the specialized crews to install them. The financial blow is compounded because the price for center pivots has jumped by 10% to 20% in the past year.