August 14, 2018
The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Lower Republican Natural Resources District in a case related to penalties imposed for 2016 violations of the district’s groundwater rules and regulations that led to a permanent water use ban.LRNRD General Manager Todd Siel told the Hub that on July 20, the Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision by Furnas County District Court Judge David Urbom to dismiss the Schluntz family’s appeal of penalties the NRD imposed for the violations.The case involves tampering with flowmeters on irrigation wells in the summer of 2016. The current owners of 1,107.5 acres in Furnas County — the estate of Gerald Schluntz, Julie Smith and Tamara Bishop are listed as appellants on the Nebraska Supreme Court records — are permanently banned from irrigating that land.
