46-706 Terms, defined.
46-706. Terms, defined.For purposes of the Municipal and Rural Domestic Ground WaterTransfers Permit Act, the Nebraska Ground Water Management and ProtectionAct, and sections 46-601 to 46-613.02, 46-636, 46-637, and 46-651 to 46-655,unless the context otherwise requires:(1) Person means a natural person, a partnership, a limitedliability company, an association, a corporation, a municipality, an irrigationdistrict, an agency or a political subdivision of the state, or a department,an agency, or a bureau of the United States;(2) Ground water means that water which occurs in or moves,seeps, filters, or percolates through ground under the surface of the land;(3) Contamination or contamination of ground water means nitratenitrogen or other material which enters the ground water due to action ofany person and causes degradation of the quality of ground water sufficientto make such ground water unsuitable for present or reasonably foreseeablebeneficial uses;(4) District means a natural resources district operatingpursuant to Chapter 2, article 32;(5) Illegal water well means (a) any water well operated orconstructed without or in violation of a permit required by the Nebraska GroundWater Management and Protection Act, (b) any water well not in compliancewith rules and regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to the act, (c)any water well not properly registered in accordance with sections 46-602to 46-604, or (d) any water well not in compliance with any other applicablelaws of the State of Nebraska or with rules and regulations adopted and promulgatedpursuant to such laws;(6) To commence construction of a water well means the beginningof the boring, drilling, jetting, digging, or excavating of the actual waterwell from which ground water is to be withdrawn;(7) Management area means any area so designated by a districtpursuant to section 46-712 or 46-718, by the Director of Environmental Qualitypursuant to section 46-725, or by the Interrelated Water Review Board pursuantto section 46-719. Management area includes a control area or a special groundwater quality protection area designated prior to July 19, 1996;(8) Management plan means a ground water management plan developedby a district and submitted to the Director of Natural Resources for reviewpursuant to section 46-711;(9) Ground water reservoir life goal means the finite or infiniteperiod of time which a district establishes as its goal for maintenance ofthe supply and quality of water in a ground water reservoir at the time aground water management plan is adopted;(10) Board means the board of directors of a district;(11) Acre-inch means the amount of water necessary to coveran acre of land one inch deep;(12) Subirrigation or subirrigated land means the naturaloccurrence of a ground water table within the root zone of agricultural vegetation,not exceeding ten feet below the surface of the ground;(13) Best management practices means schedules of activities,maintenance procedures, and other management practices utilized for purposesof irrigation efficiency, to conserve or effect a savings of ground water,or to prevent or reduce present and future contamination of ground water.Best management practices relating to contamination of ground water may include,but not be limited to, irrigation scheduling, proper rate and timing of fertilizerapplication, and other fertilizer and pesticide management programs. In determiningthe rate of fertilizer application, the district shall consult with the Universityof Nebraska or a certified crop advisor certified by the American Societyof Agronomy;(14) Point source means any discernible, confined, and discreteconveyance, including, but not limited to, any pipe, channel, tunnel, conduit,well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, vessel, other floating craft,or other conveyance, over which the Department of Environmental Quality hasregulatory authority and from which a substance which can cause or contributeto contamination of ground water is or may be discharged;(15) Allocation, as it relates to water use for irrigationpurposes, means the allotment of a specified total number of acre-inches ofirrigation water per irrigated acre per year or an average number of acre-inchesof irrigation water per irrigated acre over any reasonable period of time;(16) Rotation means a recurring series of use and nonuse ofirrigation wells on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis;(17) Water well has the same meaning as in section 46-601.01;(18) Surface water project sponsor means an irrigation districtcreated pursuant to Chapter 46, article 1, a reclamation district createdpursuant to Chapter 46, article 5, or a public power and irrigation districtcreated pursuant to Chapter 70, article 6;(19) Beneficial use means that use by which water may be putto use to the benefit of humans or other species;(20) Consumptive use means the amount of water that is consumedunder appropriate and reasonably efficient practices to accomplish withoutwaste the purposes for which the appropriation or other legally permitteduse is lawfully made;(21) Dewatering well means a well constructed and used solelyfor the purpose of lowering the ground water table elevation;(22) Emergency situation means any set of circumstances thatrequires the use of water from any source that might otherwise be regulatedor prohibited and the agency, district, or organization responsible for regulatingwater use from such source reasonably and in good faith believes that suchuse is necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, including,if applicable, compliance with federal or state water quality standards;(23) Good cause shown means a reasonable justification forgranting a variance for a consumptive use of water that would otherwise beprohibited by rule or regulation and which the granting agency, district,or organization reasonably and in good faith believes will provide an economic,environmental, social, or public health and safety benefit that is equal toor greater than the benefit resulting from the rule or regulation from whicha variance is sought;(24) Historic consumptive use means the amount of water thathas previously been consumed under appropriate and reasonably efficient practicesto accomplish without waste the purposes for which the appropriation or otherlegally permitted use was lawfully made;(25) Monitoring well means a water well that is designed andconstructed to provide ongoing hydrologic or water quality information andis not intended for consumptive use;(26) Order, except as otherwise specifically provided, includesany order required by the Nebraska Ground Water Management and ProtectionAct, by rule or regulation, or by a decision adopted by a district by voteof the board of directors of the district taken at any regularly scheduledor specially scheduled meeting of the board;(27) Overall difference between the current and fully appropriatedlevels of development means the extent to which existing uses of hydrologicallyconnected surface water and ground water and conservation activities resultin the water supply available for purposes identified in subsection (3) ofsection 46-713 to be less than the water supply available if the river basin,subbasin, or reach had been determined to be fully appropriated in accordancewith section 46-714;(28) Test hole means a hole designed solely for the purposesof obtaining information on hydrologic or geologic conditions;(29) Variance means (a) an approval to deviate from a restrictionimposed under subsection (1), (2), (8),or (9) ofsection 46-714 or (b) the approval to act in a manner contrary to existingrules or regulations from a governing body whose rule or regulation is otherwiseapplicable;(30) Certifiedirrigated acres means the number of acres or portion of an acre that a naturalresources district has approved for irrigation from ground water in accordancewith law and with rules adopted by the district; and(31) Certified water usesmeans beneficial uses of ground water for purposes other than irrigation identifiedby a district pursuant to rules adopted by the district. SourceLaws 1975, LB 577, § 2; Laws 1980, LB 643, § 9; Laws 1981, LB 146, § 5; Laws 1981, LB 325, § 1; Laws 1982, LB 375, § 2; Laws 1983, LB 378, § 2; Laws 1984, LB 1071, § 2; Laws 1986, LB 886, § 5; Laws 1986, LB 894, § 21; Laws 1991, LB 51, § 1; Laws 1993, LB 3, § 8; Laws 1993, LB 121, § 279; Laws 1993, LB 131, § 24; Laws 1993, LB 439, § 1; Laws 1993, LB 789, § 5; R.S.1943, (1993), § 46-657; Laws 1996, LB 108, § 13; Laws 2000, LB 900, § 190; Laws 2001, LB 135, § 1; Laws 2003, LB 93, § 1; R.S.Supp.,2003, § 46-656.07; Laws 2004, LB 962, § 46; Laws 2006, LB 1226, § 21; Laws 2009, LB477, § 4; Laws 2009, LB483, § 2. Cross ReferencesMunicipal and Rural Domestic Ground Water Transfers Permit Act, see section 46-650. AnnotationsGround water is owned by the public, and the only right held by an overlying landowner is in the use of the ground water. Bamford v. Upper Republican Nat. Resources Dist., 245 Neb. 299, 512 N.W.2d 642 (1994).Ground water, as defined in this section, is owned by the public, and the only right held by an overlying landowner is in the use of the ground water. In re Application U-2, 226 Neb. 594, 413 N.W.2d 290 (1987).