Since Fall 2006, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has hired a hydrogeologist and two groundwater modelers to help address questions of balancing surface and groundwater, extreme water use scenarios, and defining research to help Nebraska balance it’s water demands and other issues.

The quest for answers to these and other questions were spurred with the passage of LB 962 three years ago, said DNR director Ann Bleed.

"We were fortunate that legislative appropriations allowed DNR to fill these three positions, which collectively are helping us find answers to some difficult questions posed by LB 962,” said Bleed, a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln Conservation and Survey Division faculty member and current courtesy faculty member in UNL’s School of Natural Resources.

Additional questions DNR is tasked with answering, all driven by requirements to determine where Nebraska’s river basins are fully or over appropriated under the terms of LB 962, include alternative pumping scenarios resulting in specific levels of impact to a stream at specific times, and what research and survey work can help DNR better understand what is happening with surface and groundwater balance in a specific area.

Groundwater modelers added to DNR staff include Douglas R. Hallum and James C. Schneider, who join Paul Koester, a DNR groundwater modeler already on staff.

To help meet these burgeoning requirements for information on the state’s river basins, DNR also hired Jesse Bradley to fill the position of interrelated water management analyst, where he helps put together DNR’s annual evaluation of hydrologically connected water supplies, coordinates, tracks and suggests hydrogeologic research, and provides geologic expertise for other DNR activities and management planning. Bradley earned a master’s in hydrogeology from Clemson University and a bachelor’s degree in science environmental geology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. While at Clemson, is was a teaching assistant and helped coordinate a hydrogeology field camp. 

Koester, who has been with DNR nearly four years, is responsible for keeping current the Republican River Compact groundwater flow model, calculating annual crop irrigation requirements and other duties. He formerly worked as a research assistant and research technician in UNL’s Conservation and Survey Division. He has a master’s degree in geosciences/hydrology and a bachelor’s degree in soil science, both from UNL.

Hallum is involved in activities related to the Platte River Cooperative Hydrology Study (COHYST) model. He has a bachelor’s degree in geology/hydrogeology from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire and formerly worked as a private consultant and as a geologist for the Texas Geologic Services.

Schneider serves as the department’s senior groundwater modeler and knows the intricacies of models as well as their uses, limitations, and how models can be designed to answer specific questions. He has a doctorate in geology from the University of South Florida, Tampa and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in geology from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. He previously worked as a senior hydrogeologist and geophysicist for SDII Global Corp.

Groundwater - surface water models and modeling efforts in which DNR currently participates include the following: COHYST and other Platte modeling, Republican River Compact, Elkhorn-Loup groundwater model, Blue River basin groundwater model, Upper Niobrara River/Box Butte County modeling; and Nemaha River groundwater flow model.

For more information, go online to http://dnr.ne.gov