Three bills in the Nebraska Legislature seek to provide funding for sustainable water projects.
The measures grew out of the formation of a Water Funding Task Force formed last year. Two bills address funding for sustainability projects.
State Senator Dan Watermeier, a member of the Task Force, says those projects are important to Nebraska's top industry—agriculture.
"Farmers in our state irrigate more acres than any other state in the United States. Although on average only one percent of groundwater storage has been depleted in Nebraska, models show that groundwater pumping has reduced base flow in the Platte and other rivers by up to 15 percent."
Watermeier says right now, $90 million worth of sustainability projects have been proposed. His comments came during the Senator's weekly legislative update.