NORFOLK, Nebraska -- At a special board meeting Oct. 9, 2025, Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (NRD) Directors voted to approve a recommendation from the variance ad-hoc committee to once again open an application period for new irrigated acres in the District. Landowners can submit an application from Wednesday, October 15, 2025, through Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, for a fee of $100 per application.

An Ad-Hoc Variance Committee has been meeting twice a month since April to evaluate and strategize the Standard Variance process in the District. Committee members brought their recommendation to the rest of the Board to discuss what was crafted. 

In the Hydrologically Connected Area, Directors approved the motion to allow up to 400 acre-feet of new depletions, and up to 3,750 new irrigated acres in the Non-hydrologically Connected area in the Lower Elkhorn District. Up to 350 new irrigated acres may also be allowed in the Quantity Management Subareas.

This motion also authorized approval and use of Conditions for Approval Policy, dated Oct. 9, 2025, and the weighting of scores on the scoresheets utilized to process standard variances. The map of geographically eligible locations remains the same as 2024 and will be available on our website and in our office.

To learn more about the 12 responsibilities of Nebraska’s NRDs and how your local District can work with you and your community to protect your natural resources, visit www.lenrd.org and sign up for our monthly emails. The next Board of Directors meeting will be on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at the Lower Elkhorn NRD office in Norfolk at 7:30 p.m. and on Facebook Live.