CENTRAL CITY TO MARQUETTE TRAIL:

Mr. Milt Moravec, Assistant General Manager at the Central Platte NRD and Project Coordinator for the Central City to Marquette Trail, is requesting each public entity involved in the project to appoint one board member and one staff person to be on a committee that will investigate the feasibility of forming a Joint Action Agency and draft an inter-local agreement. The purpose of the Joint Action Agency would be to manage the project and oversee development, operation, and maintenance. The Upper Big Blue NRD Board of Directors passed the motion that John Turnbull, General Manager, and Gary Eberle, Board Member and Chairman of the Projects and Programs Committee, be designated as the District’s representatives on the committee considering formulation of a Joint Action Agency, and drafting of an inter-local agreement, for the management, development, operation, and maintenance of the proposed Central City to Marquette Trail.

RESOLUTION TO DESIGNATE RESPONSIBLE CHARGE PERSON (RC) FOR SEWARD WEST TRAIL PROJECT:

A resolution was drafted by the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) that includes definitions and substantive commitments required of a Local Public Agency (LPA) when designating a public employee to be in Responsible Charge (RC) of a Federal-aid transportation project. The Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District Board approve the resolution designating Kenneth Feather, Upper Big Blue NRD Parks, Forestry and Wildlife Department Manager, as the Responsible Charge (RC) for the Seward West Trail Project for NDOR Project Number ENH-80(32) NDOR Control Number 13060, in accordance with the Project Program Agreement previously executed in accordance with the NDOR LPA Guidelines Manual for Federal-Aid Projects, and Federal, State, and local laws, rules, regulations, policies and guidelines.

RAINWATER BASIN JOINT VENTURE MANAGEMENT BOARD:

Mr. Andy Bishop, Coordinator for the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture is asking that the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District appoint either a staff member or elected board member to the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture Management Board. Mr. Bishop states that this board will meet three to four times a year. The Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District Board appointed Ken Feather of the NRD staff to serve on the Rainwater Basin Joint Venture Management Board.

HASTINGS AREA WATER TRANSFER DISCUSSION:

A memo from Mr. Michael Onnen, General Manager of the Little Blue NRD, has been received by the Upper Big Blue NRD concerning current and proposed groundwater discharges in the Hastings area. The issue concerns an option being discussed related to the Naval Ammunition Depot groundwater contamination cleanup project. The proposal is to transfer water from existing and proposed waste water discharges to the Republican River to help satisfy the compact. Most of the existing waste water discharges originate in the Little Blue NRD and go to the West Fork of the Big Blue River. The Upper Big Blue NRD Board passed a motion to take a position opposing the transfer of groundwater from the Hastings area to the Republican River Basin.

TRANSFER AUTHORIZATIONS APPROVED: The Upper Big Blue NRD Board of Directors passed the motion to approve both of these transfers:

Charles W. Carllson - Transfer Authorization T-009

Mr. Charles W. Carllson wishes to transfer water from a new well in the SE¼SW¼ of Section

34-T13N-R5W to irrigate 18.5 acres in the NE¼NW¼ of Section 3-T12N-R5W, Hamilton County. The NRD staff has reviewed the application and has determined that the proposed transfer complies with the District’s rules and regulations.

Mary L Neuhous & Myers Brothers - Transfer Authorization T-010

Mr. Kent and Mrs. Mary L Neuhous & Mr. Kurt Myers wish to transfer water from Well G-135517 in the NW¼SW¼ of Section 34-T6N-R2W to irrigate 6 acres (pivot corner) in the SW¼SW¼ of Section 35-T6N-R2W, Fillmore County. These acres are currently irrigated by a well in the NW¼ of Section 35-T6N-R2W. Well G-135517 also supplies water to a center pivot in the NW¼ of Section 2-T5N-R2W. The combined irrigated acres of the existing and proposed transfer is 144.57 acres. The NRD staff has reviewed the application and has determined that the transfer complies with the District’s rules and regulations.

RECHARGE LAKE - BRUCE ANDERSON RECREATION AREA:

The District has received three proposals from engineering firms interested in providing preliminary design and final design of recreation facilities being planned for the York Groundwater Recharge Project - Bruce Anderson Recreation Area. The Committee reviewed the scope of work, timeline, and budgets submitted with the proposals from Olsson and Associates, JEO Consulting Group, and Schemmer Architects, Engineers and Planners. The proposals were all based on the same overall scope of work provided by the District staff. The scope asked for costs to conduct preliminary and final design and obtain all necessary permits:

Olsson $119,600

JEO 94,408

Schemmer 42,550 *Estimated fee based on 7.5% of NRD estimate of construction cost.

The Upper Big Blue NRD Board passed the motion that Schemmer Architects, Engineers and Planners (Lincoln, Nebraska) be selected to provide preliminary design and final design of proposed recreation facilities at the York Groundwater Recharge Project - Bruce Anderson Recreation Area if the District decides to hire an engineering firm to do the design work.

HOTTOVY & MORAVEC DAMS MAINTENANCE:

Horizontal Boring Co. has completed maintenance work on the Hottovy and Moravec road dams in Butler and Seward Counties. The total maintenance amount for both dams is $27,870.90, which includes release of retainage. The Upper Big Blue NRD Board approved this payment in accordance with the contract, for the maintenance work currently completed on both dams.

FLOOD CONTROL STRUCTURE 25-15-2E:

Structure 25-15-2E is a proposed, normally dry, flood control dam to be located downstream from the David City N.W. Drainage Improvement Project. Geotechnical Services, Inc. has completed the foundation and embankment engineering for the project. The Upper Big Blue NRD Board approved the motion that a final payment of $6,580.00 be made to Geotechnical Services, Inc., in accordance with the engineering agreement and authorization dated March 25, 2009, to provide geotechnical engineering design services for flood control Structure 25-15-2E in Butler County.

University of Nebraska/Conservation and Survey Division PROPOSAL FOR STREAMBED

CONDUCTANCE TESTING:

The Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District will be using the Blue Basin Groundwater Model to locate the Lower Platte River 10/50 line adjacent to the Upper Big Blue NRD northern boundary. The groundwater model will be updated to include Clear Creek as a tributary to the Platte River. Additional streambed testing will be needed along Clear Creek to determine the streambed conductance.

Dr. Xun-Hong Chen at the University of Nebraska Conservation and Survey Division has submitted a proposal to collect field data and compute the bed conductance values to be used in the model. The proposed work will take about one year to complete. The budget for this work is as follows:

Graduate student salary & benefits (1 yr.) ........................................... $25,000

Geoprobe test-hole coring and logging ................................................... 8,000

Mileage, supplies, clerical, and copies .................................................... 1,000

Principal Investigator (salary paid by UNL) ................................................... 0

Total Cost .......................................................................................... $34,000

The Upper Big Blue NRD Board of Directors passed the motion for the District to enter into a contract with the University of Nebraska/Conservation and Survey Division for the purpose of obtaining hydrogeologic data and determining streambed conductance for Clear Creek, in accordance with the University of Nebraska/Conservation and Survey Division proposal dated September 21, 2009.

DISTRICT-WIDE news:

Cost-sharing:

Board approval was given for Aquifer Quality Well Abandonment Cost-Share Assistance Program (AQWACAP) payments totaling $3,669.62 for 10 well-abandonments. The Board also approved $8,302.84 for Land Treatment Program cost-share payments on 2 applications utilizing Nebraska Soil & Water Conservation Program (NSWCP) funds and 1 NRD application for the total implementation of 1 terrace system, 1 set of pivot nozzles, and 1 brush management program. These cost-share payments provide incentives for cooperators to install and maintain conservation practices throughout the District for the purpose of conserving Nebraska’s natural resources.

FY2009 Audit:

The Upper Big Blue NRD Board of Directors approved the FY2009 Audit performed by Romans, Wiemer & Associates, Certified Public Accountants, P.C. (York, Nebraska).

Certification of Irrigated Acres Reporting - Update:

The Upper Big Blue NRD Board approved certification of 32,483 irrigated acres through October 5, 2009. These are due primarily to annual county assessor record keeping updates. This brings the total to 1,157,139 certified irrigated acres District-wide.

Flowmeter Cost-share — Final Payments Update:

Twelve flowmeters have been installed this month and the NRD staff has inspected and approved these installations. The NRD Board approved payment of $5,946.34 in cost-share for these 12 meters.

Cost-share money for the flowmeter program has come to the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District in the form of a $900,000 grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust. The Nebraska Environmental Trust has granted an extension to complete the flowmeter grant activities. The grant now ends on December 31, 2009.

Tree Planting Prices for FY2010:

Bessey Nursery (Halsey, Nebraska) has raised their prices from $550 per 1,000 to $570 per 1,000, which brings the purchase price of the trees for the NRDs to $.60 / per tree. As a result, the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District Board of Directors set the planting cost for FY2010 at $.55 per tree, and the cost of the trees and shrubs at $.85 per tree.

WELL CONSTRUCTION PERMITS issued in September 2009:

Throughout the month of September 2009, 3 well construction permits were issued. This brings the total for calendar year 2009 to 67 well construction permits.

This concludes the actions of the Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District Board of Directors meeting of October 15, 2009.

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