Bill would require mitigation plans for large municipal or industrial water users in fully appropriated Nebraska basins

Senator Tom Brandt introduced LB344 in the Natural Resources Committee to clarify how municipal and large commercial or industrial water uses will be treated in areas the state has designated as fully or over‑appropriated. The bill focuses on the Platte, Republican and Upper Niobrara basins (and associated fully/over‑appropriated areas) and seeks to preserve municipal growth allowances while requiring mitigation plans for new or expanded large water users connected to municipal systems.

The nut graf: LB344 updates statutes that were originally enacted with a 20‑year exemption on municipal allocations; when that exemption expires on Jan. 1, 2026, the bill removes the potential for new allocations on municipalities and instead requires that large industrial users (defined in statute as over 25 million gallons annually) that attach to municipal supplies submit mitigation plans showing annual water use, volume returned to municipal systems or discharged elsewhere, and sources for mitigation. Proponents told the committee the change levels the playing field so commercial users that rely on municipal water cannot avoid mitigation costs that would fall on NRD taxpayers and the state.

What the bill would do

Jesse Bradley, interim director of the Department of Natural Resources, explained that the statute in question (section 46‑740…