Of particular interest to Central's board was the two-year extension of funding for the Riparian Vegetation Management Task Force. LB98, sponsored by Sen. Carlson, allows work to continue in the Republican and Platte River basins to remove invasive species of plants that are contributing to stream flow depletions and channel narrowing. The governor signed the bill into law on May 13 with an emergency clause, allowing the law to take effect immediately.

The task force and funds to remove the invasive species -- primarily phragmites (pronounced frag-my-teez) and salt cedar -- were initially approved in 2007 as part of LB701.

Sen. Carlson said no general funds will be used for the work. Instead, funding will come from a $1.5 million grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and $500,000 through the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund's grant process.

Kent Aden, Central's assistant real estate manager and a member of the Riparian Vegetation Management Task Force, showed before-and-after photographs of salt cedar growth at the west end of Lake McConaughy and phragmites along the Platte River near North Platte where invasive species have been treated. Both sets of photos demonstrated the effectiveness of the chemicals applied to the vegetation, an outcome made possible in part by funds from the original LB701 allocation, Aden said.

Similar results have been noted in long stretches of the Republican River, Sen. Carlson said. Now Nebraska faces the task of preventing the return of invasive species to cleared areas, he added.

In addition to improving the current situation, Sen. Carlson said, "I think the process bought us about five years to find ways to keep our rivers free of these invasive species."

Also at Monday's meeting:

• The board approved, subject to legal review, an interagency agreement with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality for a project to improve water circulation at Lake Ogallala. The project involves dredging of an underwater channel to improve movement of water from the north arm of the lake to the main body of water. Engineering Services Manager Eric Hixson said the project will begin next fall.

• Irrigation Division Manager Dave Ford said the process of filling the irrigation system for the first scheduled deliveries on June 23 is underway. Recent rainfall has improved river flows enough that Central is not releasing storage water from Lake McConaughy for the purpose, he said, but is diverting available natural flow instead.

However, he said, this spring's flows in the river have not exceeded minimum target flows set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Unless we see some rainfall events above the diversion dam that dramatically increase flows in the river," Ford said, "it doesn't appear likely that excess flows will be available for diversion to Elwood Reservoir."

Ford also mentioned the Four States Irrigation Council's summer tour that is scheduled for July 28-29. The tour will take in a portion of the Platte River Basin from Lake McConaughy to Kearney on the first day and then back west through the Republican River Basin on the second day. Individuals interested in more information about the tour can call Brian Werner at (970) 622-2229.

• Civil Engineer Cory Steinke reported that Lake McConaughy is at elevation 3230.3 on Monday, five feet higher in elevation and 96,000 acre-feet more in volume than at this time last year. However, inflows continue to hover around 66 percent of normal for this period.

Although storage in Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs on the North Platte River in Wyoming has improved significantly over recent years, he said, the latest snowpack runoff reports are cause for more concern.

"We won't know for another month how the runoff season turns out," he said, "but the latest reports show a big decline in recent weeks."

Wyoming hasn't seen significant snowfall since mid-April which tempered an otherwise promising outlook. Data from the Bureau currently predicts runoff from the Upper North Platte Basin at 64 percent of normal and 50 percent in the Lower North Platte Basin, which includes the Sweetwater and Laramie rivers in Wyoming.