Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman's administration has suggested irrigation shutdowns in a large swath of the Republican River basin during dry years to help send Kansas the water it is owed under a three-state compact, according to an official familiar with the proposal.

The official discussed it with The Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the plan is supposed to remain secret for now.

The proposal is that groundwater wells within a couple of miles of the river and its main tributaries that irrigate 250,000-334,000 acres in the Republican Basin would be shut down during years defined as "water short."

Under the 2002 settlement of the Kansas v. Nebraska lawsuit settlement, a water-short year is defined as one when Harlan County Lake is less than about one-third full.

State officials have said that such shortages occur 25 percent to 33 percent of the time. Barring an extreme drought, there probably won't be another water-short year for least two years because Harlan County Lake is full.

Lower Republican Natural Resources District Manager Mike Clements of Alma told the Hub that he'd like to comment on possible plans, but he's not permitted to because the Nebraska Attorney General's Office has called the issue privileged and confidential.

Nebraska Department of Natural Resources Director Brian Dunnigan said this morning he couldn't discuss details of any proposals still under consideration, but he told the Hub that plans were being made for a Sept. 17 public meeting somewhere in the Republican Basin to discuss possible compact compliance options.

Any changes proposed to integrated water management plans already approved by the Republican Basin NRDs and DNR would require amendments or rewrites. Dunnigan said the law requires that any such changes must be discussed at public meetings and at a public hearing before decisions are made.

Farmers and others in the irrigation-heavy region of southwest and south-central Nebraska said such a shutdown could be a huge economic blow.

"You're talking about a really big financial hit on a large area," Holbrook-area farmer Dale Helms said when told of the plan. He irrigates land with wells that could be turned off occasionally. "You can't just shut this thing down ... and expect everyone will still be around when you turn it back on."

Some say such action is needed to keep Nebraska from a repeat of 2005 and 2006, when more Republican River water was used than allowed under the Republican River Compact and lawsuit settlement. The compact includes Colorado.

"It's a big step in the right direction," said University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor David Aiken, a water-law expert. "This is the kind of thing we have to do to be in compliance in the long term."

Heineman and Dunnigan would neither confirm nor deny to The Associated Press the existence of the plan that was presented to the Republican Basin NRDs last week. When asked if the state was considering an irrigation shutdown, Dunnigan said, "We're considering all options," and that it was premature to discuss them.

In a statement this morning, Heineman said he met last week with officials of the Lower, Middle and Upper Republican NRDs.

"They told me that they are working with the Department of Natural Resources to develop integrated management plans that would be in compliance with the three-state compact during water-short years," Heineman said. "The general managers of the NRDs, Mike Clements, Dan Smith and Jasper Fanning, indicated they thought they would have mutually agreeable plans by Dec. 1."

The proposal to curtail groundwater irrigation near the river to increase river flows and send more water to Kansas comes on the heels of a nonbinding decision last month by an arbitrator appointed to help resolve a dispute between Kansas and Nebraska that appears headed to court.

While Colorado-based arbitrator Karl Dreher said Nebraska owed Kansas just $10,000 for overusing river water in 2005 and 2006 - a tiny fraction of the $9 million Kansas demanded - Dreher said Nebraska's plan for future compliance with the compact was insufficient.

He recommended Nebraska's NRDs, which control groundwater irrigation, reduce water allocations to farmers below what is required in integrated water management plans written with DNR.

The restrictions being proposed wouldn't be as stringent as those requested by Kansas and that Dreher said went too far: A permanent shutdown of wells providing water to about half the 1.2 million irrigated acres in Nebraska's portion of the basin.

Kearney Hub Staff Writer Lori Potter contributed to this story.