The tone was generally negative at a Nebraska Department of Natural Resources hearing in Gordon Thursday declaring the river basin as fully appropriated" for water use from the Box Butte reservoir in Dawes County to the Spenser Dam in Boyd County. The designation would limit future water use from the Niobrara River, including new irrigation wells, and additional irrigated acres

The Department of Natural Resources issued the preliminary finding in October, which Upper Niobrara -White Natural Resources District Manager Lyndon Vogt says reversed its previous position and came as a surprise.

The Upper-Niobrara-White covers all of Sheridan, Box Butte, Dawes and most of Sioux County, so it is affected by the preliminary finding. Vogt was one of only two people who didn't testify against the "fully appropriated" designation, maintaining the district will see little impact from the declaration in the foreseeable future.

A final determination on the "fully appropriated" designation will be made by January 20th.