The 2001 Nebraska Legislature passed LB329 (Neb. Rev. Stat. §46-1304) which, in part, directed the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ), now the Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE), to report on groundwater quality monitoring in Nebraska. Reports have been issued annually since December 2001. The text of the statute applicable to this report follows:
“The Department of Environmental Quality shall prepare a report outlining the extent of ground water quality monitoring conducted by natural resources districts during the preceding calendar year. The department shall analyze the data collected for the purpose of determining whether or not ground water quality is degrading or improving and shall present the results to the Natural Resources Committee of the Legislature beginning December 1, 2001, and each year thereafter. The districts shall submit in a timely manner all ground water quality monitoring data collected to the department or its designee. The department shall use the data submitted by the districts in conjunction with all other readily available and compatible data for the purpose of the annual ground water quality trend analysis.”
The section following the statute quoted above (§ 46-1305), requires the State’s Natural Resources Districts to submit an annual report to the legislature with information on their water quality programs, including financial data. That report has been prepared by the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts and is being issued concurrently with this groundwater quality report.