While drought has dissipated in much of the state over the past year, it's still having a longer-term effect on groundwater.
The most recent statewide groundwater level report from the Conservation and Survey Division in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Natural Resources found that groundwater levels continue to decline in most of the state.
In fact, 85% of the 4,822 wells measured statewide showed declines from spring 2022 to spring 2023, with an average decline across all wells of 1.65 feet.
The long-term lack of rainfall combined with an increased need for irrigation has led to an average water depth decline in Nebraska wells of 3.15 feet since spring 2020, according to the report.
The western two-thirds of the state emerged from drought conditions last fall that had existed in many areas since the middle of 2020, but drought continues in parts of central and eastern Nebraska, where some of the biggest well-level declines were found.
Well drops of up to 20 feet were recorded in central Butler County, while declines of up to 15 feet were found in wells in Dakota, Perkins and Phelps counties.
The report said widespread declines of 1 to 5 feet were recorded across much of eastern Nebraska, including in Lancaster County.
"The wells near Lincoln and just to the south of town have taken a pretty good hit," said Aaron Young, a survey geologist in UNL's School of Natural Resources and one of the report's authors.
After substantial rains over the past few days, Lincoln's year-to-date rainfall total is slightly above average, but the city has a precipitation deficit of about 2 feet since 2020.
The ongoing drought conditions caused Waverly to institute mandatory lawn watering restrictions and led Lancaster County Rural Water District No. 1 to greatly increase its water rates on high-volume users.
In a letter to residents last week, Waverly's mayor and City Council members said the watering restrictions, as well as a new permit requirement for people seeding or sodding their lawns, were vital because of "declining water levels in city wells over the past few years due to the extended drought conditions."
Conditions are not likely to get better any time soon, Young said, especially in areas that are currently in drought.
Many of those same areas, including parts of Lancaster, Saline, Seward and other counties in Southeast Nebraska, are right on the edges of aquifers and tend to have more groundwater problems in drought years.
"There are some areas of the state where years like this can cause some problems," Young said.
He said sampling so far this year of about 120 wells shows continuing declines, but despite that, he said he's not too concerned at this point.
The good news is that groundwater levels in much of the state were higher last year than they were 10 years ago.
According to the report, 58% of the wells measured had higher levels in spring 2023 than in spring 2013, and the average increase was 0.36 feet.
The report also noted that compared with "pre-development times" — essentially before the widespread use of groundwater for irrigation in the 1950s and '60s — there is still an abundance of groundwater in the state, with most areas experiencing a net change of less than 20 feet.