Heavy pumping by Nebraska irrigators, cities and water districts during the drought is beginning to show up in spring readings of groundwater levels.

For example, the York-based Upper Big Blue Natural Resources District reported an average decline of nearly 4.4 feet in the past year.

District general manager John Turnbull said that it was “the “steepest (one-year) decline that we have seen since we have been measuring wells.”

Turnbull says the groundwater is about 3 feet above the point where it would require the use of flow meters and begin water allocations.