Upper Elkhorn groundwater rules can affect field records, soil tests, and duties shared by owners and operators. As of October 19, 2026, the Upper Elkhorn Natural Resources District is seeking testimony on proposed amendments. Compare your land’s description and the proposed controls before deciding how a lease should assign the work.
What should you check before assigning groundwater duties?
Start with the field, the applicable rule, and the people doing the work.
A lease may describe the ground accurately yet say little about testing or crop reports. That leaves a practical gap when a rule changes or a new tenant takes over.
The first document to compare is the land’s legal description. It identifies the township, range, section, and any smaller part of the section. Those details let you compare the same ground across the notice, district map, and lease.
Next comes the actual rule text. A short notice tells you what the board proposes to change. It doesn’t replace the full controls, their conditions, or the final order.
The third document is the agreement between the owner and operator. Ask how it handles soil-test bills and access to crop records. An option to discuss is naming who supplies existing results when a tenant leaves.
That discussion should separate the work from the expense. A tenant might arrange sampling while the owner pays an agreed share. Another agreement might assign both tasks to the operator. Neither choice answers which duties the district places on each person.
I would check those duties before treating a cost-sharing clause as the whole solution.
What is Upper Elkhorn proposing now?
The district proposes changes to groundwater quality areas and several operating rules.
Its public notice schedules testimony for October 26, 2026, at 4 p.m. Central in O’Neill. The published materials call these proposed amendments; the board must still decide whether to adopt them.
The notice identifies phase changes in specified parts of Antelope, Holt, and Rock counties. Other proposed edits address enforcement, well permits, nitrogen certification, and annual reporting.
The clean proposal presents the wording together. The redlined copy shows edits alongside older language. Reading both helps separate a new requirement from an existing provision moved to another section.
Older effective dates printed in the document describe earlier orders. They don’t prove the board has adopted the pending amendments. When controls are adopted under the applicable Nebraska process, the final order and its effective date matter.
That distinction changes the question for a lease renewal. The task is to plan for a possible change without treating a proposal as today’s new duty.
Quick facts
- Jurisdiction: Upper Elkhorn Natural Resources District, Nebraska.
- Status: Proposed amendments in the current hearing materials.
- Advance testimony: Received October 23, 2026, by 4:30 p.m. Central.
- Hearing: October 26, 2026, at 4 p.m. Central.
- Location: 301 North Harrison Street, O’Neill, Nebraska.
- Hearing format: Testimony, not a question-and-answer session.
How do you check the proposed phase for a field?
Use the legal description and ask the district to identify both the current and proposed phase.
The county name isn’t enough to settle the issue. The notice sometimes lists an entire township and sometimes only selected sections.
In Antelope County, it lists all sections of Township 23 in Ranges 5, 6, and 8 West. Those entries propose a move from Phase I to Phase II.
For Holt County, the notice lists sections 19 through 36 of Township 29, Range 12 West. It also lists all sections of Township 25, Range 9 West. Those entries propose Phase II.
The Rock County entries propose Phase III in three listed township areas. Township 30, Range 19 West, would move from Phase I straight to Phase III, skipping Phase II. Township 31, Range 19 West, sections 19 through 36, would move from Phase II to Phase III. So would all of Township 29, Range 19 West.
Those are proposed boundary entries, not a parcel determination for your operation. The full district-wide amendments can matter beyond the listed phase changes.
An owner with two rented fields could need two separate answers. One field might lie within a listed section while another does not. Put each legal description beside the district’s response so the two don’t get mixed together.
If a map and written description appear different, ask the district to resolve that difference. A useful response would identify the specific field and the text controlling its proposed treatment.
Who would sign a well permit on rented ground?
The landowner or a power of attorney would sign, under proposed Rule 3.4.5. A power of attorney is written authority to act for the owner.
Permits generally apply to new wells designed to pump more than 50 gallons per minute. Rule 3.4.1 exempts smaller wells and certain test holes. Irrigation wells usually pump far more than that.
On rented ground, the tenant may be the one planning a new well. Under the proposal, that tenant couldn’t sign the permit alone. Decide who will sign before the next well. Ask the district whether a limited power of attorney would satisfy the rule. Then write the answer into the lease, along with who pays for the well.
Which testing and reporting details belong in a lease discussion?
Discuss the tasks and costs that the field’s applicable controls actually require.
Under the proposed Phase II and III reporting provision, fields larger than 40 acres require annual crop reports. The stated deadline is December 31 after each crop year. The proposal uses Producer Connect, the district’s online reporting system, or another portal the district selects.
Where more than 50 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre is applied, the text calls for a full report. For crops receiving less than 50 pounds, it calls for a simplified report. Have the district clarify treatment at exactly 50 pounds before relying on that dividing line.
The proposed soil-testing provisions also use field size and nitrogen conditions. Covered fields must be larger than 40 acres. The stated nitrogen threshold is more than 50 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre. The text calls for preseason sampling at a two-foot depth, with three feet encouraged.
It also includes an exception that the board may grant based on consistent low-nitrate soil results. Those conditions matter when deciding whether a sampling bill is expected every year. A phase label alone doesn’t supply the full answer.
Phase III adds another issue: residual nitrate left in soil after the growing season. The proposed triggers vary with organic matter. A triggering field may enter additional sampling and discussions about changes in management.
The text says a responsible party may have to pay for future sampling years. That is a reason to discuss a cost clause, not to quote an assumed fee.
If nitrate remains above the trigger, the proposal calls for a violation notice. An order could then stop nitrogen use or irrigation, or reduce certified irrigated acres. Those possible consequences make cooperation with district notices another part of the lease discussion.
For a renewal, ask whether the agreement should name who orders samples and receives the laboratory results. A second question is who retains those records when the lease ends. Put the proposed wording beside actual operating practices before signing.
How can a landowner or operator give useful testimony?
Explain a specific proposed provision and its effect on a real field or operating task.
You don’t need to wait for the hearing to obtain the proposal. Nebraska’s groundwater hearing law requires the full text to be available upon request. The district also posts its clean and redlined versions online.
For advance written testimony, the district uses a receipt deadline. Mail or delivery must reach its office by October 23, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. Central. Allowing extra delivery time is an option to discuss if using the mail.
Written testimony can instead be presented at the October 26 hearing. The location is 301 North Harrison Street, O’Neill, Nebraska. The scheduled starting time is 4 p.m. Central.
Because the hearing receives testimony rather than questions and answers, ask for clarification beforehand. That can make your statement more useful to the board.
A concrete statement might describe an incoming tenant who won’t have the prior year’s laboratory results. It could ask how the reporting transition should work. Include the proposed section and the change or explanation you want, without assuming the board will grant it.
Questions about fields, leases, and testimony
Can I submit written testimony on the hearing day?
The notice allows written testimony at the October 26, 2026, hearing. Advance mail or delivery must arrive October 23 by 4:30 p.m. Central.
Does a phase label identify every reporting requirement?
No. The proposed annual reporting rule applies to fields larger than 40 acres in Phase II or III. Nitrogen application affects the report type.
Does the proposal apply throughout Nebraska?
These amendments concern Upper Elkhorn’s Nebraska district. The notice lists specific township and section changes within it.
Can the lease alone decide who must comply?
A lease can address tasks and costs between its parties. Applicable district rules must also be checked for owner and operator duties.
Reviewing a lease before the next crop year
If you’re signing a lease on affected ground, bring the field description and proposed controls into the review. Midwest Ag Law helps with water, drainage, and ag program questions and related farm agreements.
Ask about a lease review through our contact page. A useful starting point is the clause assigning sampling costs and access to records.
Kole Pederson is an attorney licensed in Nebraska and Minnesota and the founder of Midwest Ag Law.
Kole Pederson, founder of Midwest Ag Law in Henderson, Nebraska.
This article is for general education only and is not legal advice for your situation.
References
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 46-739(1)-(4) (groundwater controls).
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 46-743(3)-(6) (notice, full text, and testimony).
