Nebraska Revised Statute 46-256
46-256.
Persons controlling canals or reservoirs; headgates and measuring devices; failure to construct; Chief Water Officer; powers.
Persons owning or controlling any ditch, canal, or reservoir for the purpose of storing or using water for any purpose shall, upon thirty days' notice by the Chief Water Officer, construct and maintain at the point of diversion a substantial headgate, of a design approved by the Chief Water Officer, so built that it may be closed, or partially closed and fastened at any stage with lock or seal. They shall also construct a device for measuring and apportioning the water appropriated, which device shall be of a design approved by the Chief Water Officer and built at the most practical point to be selected and fixed by the Chief Water Officer. If they neglect or refuse, for a period of ten days, to construct such headgate and measuring device, the Chief Water Officer shall refuse to allow any water to be delivered to or used by or through any such ditch, canal, or reservoir or any other contrivance or device for appropriating, using, or storing water, and the Chief Water Officer may construct bars, dams, or other obstructions to prevent such delivery or use.
Source
- Laws 1919, c. 190, tit. VII, art. V, div. 2, § 26, p. 844;
- C.S.1922, § 8445;
- C.S.1929, § 81-6326;
- R.S.1943, § 46-256;
- Laws 2000, LB 900, § 120;
- Laws 2025, LB317, § 102.
- Operative Date: July 1, 2025
Annotations
Installation of measuring device was properly required as a condition to allowance of appropriation of water. Ainsworth Irr. Dist. v. Bejot, 170 Neb. 257, 102 N.W.2d 416 (1960).
Appropriated waters should be measured at the point of diversion. Loup River Public Power Dist. v. North Loup River Public Power & Irr. Dist., 142 Neb. 141, 5 N.W.2d 240 (1942).