45-859.01. Conservation district account; replenishment reserve subaccount; debits and credits

A. The director shall establish a long-term storage account and a conservation district account for each active management area in which a member land or member service area is or may be located. The director shall establish a replenishment reserve subaccount within the long-term storage account for each active management area in which a member land or member service area is or may be located.

B. For each reporting year, the groundwater replenishment obligation as defined in section 48-3701 for each active management area shall be debited from the conservation district account for that active management area.

C. For each reporting year, the contract replenishment obligation as defined in section 48-3701 for each active management area shall be debited from the conservation district account for that active management area.

D. On application by a conservation district to the director, credits in the conservation district's long-term storage account for an active management area, including credits earned through the use of excess capacity of each project permitted under article 6 of this chapter, shall be transferred and credited to its conservation district account for the same active management area.

E. After January 1, 2030 or earlier, on approval of the director of water resources pursuant to subsection K of this section, on application by a conservation district to the director, credits in the conservation district's replenishment reserve subaccount for an active management area shall be transferred and credited to its conservation district account for the same active management area, except that any such transfer that would cause the balance in the replenishment reserve subaccount for an active management area to fall below twenty-five per cent of the reserve target for that active management area shall be subject to the approval of the director.

F. Except as provided in subsection E of this section, credits in a replenishment reserve subaccount may be assigned or transferred out of the replenishment reserve subaccount only on application by the conservation district to the director and only if the director determines that the assignment or transfer is warranted due to a reduction in the reserve target as defined in section 48-3701. If credits in a replenishment reserve subaccount are assigned or transferred to any account other than a conservation district account, then five per cent of the assigned or transferred credits shall be permanently extinguished.

G. For each reporting year, the director shall credit the conservation district's conservation district account by the amount of water stored by the conservation district during the reporting year, if the conservation district has requested the director to credit the stored water directly to its conservation district account and the stored water would otherwise be eligible for credits in a long-term storage account.

H. For each reporting year, the director shall credit the conservation district's replenishment reserve subaccount for each active management area by the amount of long-term storage credits developed by the conservation district in that active management area during the reporting year for that purpose.

I. By October 31 of each year, the director shall determine whether the conservation district has completed the groundwater replenishment obligation for each active management area as prescribed by section 48-3771.

J. Credits in a conservation district account may not be assigned or transferred out of the conservation district account.

K. A conservation district may apply to the director to transfer credits in the conservation district's replenishment reserve subaccount for an active management area to its conservation district account for the same active management area earlier than January 1, 2030. The application shall specify the reason for the request, state the amount of credits sought to be transferred and include a plan for replacing the credits in the replenishment reserve subaccount. The director shall approve the application if the director determines that both of the following apply:

1. The conservation district has demonstrated good cause for the transfer.

2. The conservation district's plan for replacing the transferred credits is adequate.