"Lower Republican irrigators use less than 6 inches of water"

(HASTINGS TRIBUNE) The Hastings Tribune reports, "Irrigators in the Lower Republican Natural Resources District used less than 6 inches of groundwater per certified acre to produce their crops in 2009, district officials announced Thursday. The LRNRD encompasses Furnas, Harlan and Franklin counties, most of Webster County and southern Nuckolls County. Since 2008, district irrigators have been held to a groundwater ration averaging 9 inches per acre per year. General Manager Mike Clements presented the water usage numbers at Thursday afternoon's monthly meeting of the LRNRD board of directors. 'Districtwide, we came in at 5.67, which I think is fantastic,' Clements told the board. The districtwide usage figure is the second-lowest since 2003, when the district began generating such numbers."