2009 Nebraska Code
Chapter 61 NATURAL RESOURCES
61-218 Water Resources Cash Fund; created; use; investment; eligibility for funding; annual report; contents.

61-218. Water Resources Cash Fund; created; use; investment; eligibility for funding; annual report; contents.

(1) The Water Resources Cash Fund is created. The fund shall be administered by the Department of Natural Resources. Transfers may be made from the fund to the General Fund at the direction of the Legislature. Any money in the Water Resources Cash Fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.

(2) The State Treasurer shall credit to the fund such money as is (a) transferred to the fund by the Legislature, (b) paid to the state as fees, deposits, payments, and repayments relating to the fund, both principal and interest, (c) donated as gifts, bequests, or other contributions to such fund from public or private entities, and (d) made available by any department or agency of the United States if so directed by such department or agency.

(3) The fund shall be expended by the department (a) to aid management actions taken to reduce consumptive uses of water and to enhance streamflows or ground water recharge in river basins, subbasins, or reaches which are deemed by the department overappropriated pursuant to section 46-713 or fully appropriated pursuant to section 46-714 or are bound by an interstate compact or decree or a formal state contract or agreement and (b) to the extent funds are not expended pursuant to subdivision (a) of this subsection, the department may conduct a statewide assessment of short-term and long-term water management activities and funding needs to meet statutory requirements in sections 46-713 to 46-718 and 46-739 and any requirements of an interstate compact or decree or formal state contract or agreement. The fund shall not be used to pay for administrative expenses or any salaries for the department or any political subdivision.

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that two million seven hundred thousand dollars be transferred each fiscal year from the General Fund to the Water Resources Cash Fund for FY2009-10 through FY2018-19.

(5)(a) Expenditures from the Water Resources Cash Fund may be made to natural resources districts eligible under subsection (3) of this section for activities to either achieve a sustainable balance of consumptive water uses or assure compliance with an interstate compact or decree or a formal state contract or agreement and shall require a match of local funding in an amount equal to or greater than forty percent of the total cost of carrying out the eligible activity. The department shall, no later than August 1 of each year, beginning in 2007, determine the amount of funding that will be made available to natural resources districts from the Water Resources Cash Fund and notify natural resources districts of this determination. The department shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing application for and use of the Water Resources Cash Fund by natural resources districts. Such rules and regulations shall, at a minimum, include the following components:

(i) Require an explanation of how the planned activity will assure compliance with an interstate compact or decree or a formal state contract or agreement as required by section 46-715 and the controls, rules, and regulations designed to carry out the activity; and

(ii) A schedule of implementation of the activity or its components.

(b) Any natural resources district that fails to implement and enforce its controls, rules, and regulations as required by section 46-715 shall not be eligible for funding from the Water Resources Cash Fund until it is determined by the department that compliance with the provisions required by section 46-715 has been established.

(6) The Department of Natural Resources shall submit an annual report to the Legislature no later than October 1 of each year, beginning in the year 2007, that shall detail the use of the Water Resources Cash Fund in the previous year. The report shall provide:

(a) Details regarding the use and cost of activities carried out by the department; and

(b) Details regarding the use and cost of activities carried out by each natural resources district that received funds from the Water Resources Cash Fund.

Source

Laws 2007, LB701, § 25;
Laws 2009, First Spec. Sess., LB3, § 39;
Laws 2010, LB689, § 1;
Laws 2010, LB993, § 1.
Effective Date: July 15, 2010
Note: The Revisor of Statutes has pursuant to section 49-769 correlated LB689, section 1, with LB993, section 1, to reflect all amendments.

Cross References

Nebraska Capital Expansion Act, see section 72-1269.
Nebraska State Funds Investment Act, see section 72-1260.