Gov. Jim Pillen, top right, leads an initial meeting of his new “Water Quality and Quantity Task Force” as he eyes a merger of two Nebraska state departments and seeks to prioritize water resources in state government on March 26, 2025. (Courtesy of Office of Gov. Jim Pillen)
LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to merge two state agencies this summer and create one central department intended to increase the state’s focus on water.
Legislative Bill 317, from State Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, passed 34-12 without debate. This July 1, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources will be folded into the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, creating the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and Environment.
Gov. Jim Pillen is expected to sign the bill, which Brandt introduced on his behalf. The governor has also created a “Water Quality and Quantity Task Force.”
A revised fiscal analysis said the merger, which was expected to initially cost the state for rebranding rather than cost savings, could be absorbed. The same statement said efficiency savings could be made and realized in the 2027-29 biennium. No specifics were given.
Jesse Bradley, interim director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, since August 2024, and of the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, effective Feb. 12, 2025. (Courtesy of Governor’s Office)
Jesse Bradley currently serves as the joint interim director of Natural Resources and Environment and Energy. The two agencies already co-locate in the same northwest Lincoln office building.
Natural Resources has a budget of more than $104 million, largely from cash funds ($89.5 million). Environment and Energy has a budget of nearly $99 million, split roughly in half between federal ($48.9 million) and cash funds ($43.2 million).
In addition to a new combined agency director, the state will hire a “chief water officer” who essentially takes on the role of the director of Natural Resources. While LB 317 is 511 pages, much of that is dedicated to renaming the different departments and division directors across hundreds of state statutes.
The Nebraska Association of Natural Resources Districts (representing the state’s 23 NRDs), Nebraska State Irrigation Association, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club and Nebraska Farmers Union opposed the bill at its hearing.
Many opponents expressed concern at a February public hearing for the bill that the merger might divide rather than focus attention on water resources.
Only Pillen, Bradley, a member of the state’s budget division and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (limited to a small section of LB 317) testified in support of the bill.
Brandt said he felt good that the bill passed and that the longer he met with opponents to the bill, the more that initial concerns began to fade. He noted that during the second-round debate, he sought to address concerns from a couple of senators.
“The missions won’t change,” Brandt said of the merger. “It will just become one agency.”
History of the Nebraska Departments of Natural Resources, Environment and Energy
Current: Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Control is established (1971).
The department is renamed the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (1992).
Nebraska Energy Office is folded into the Environmental Quality Department, becoming DEE (2019).
State-delegated environmental health programs from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, housed in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, are moved over to DEE (2021).
Current: Nebraska Department of Natural Resources
The board is renamed the State Board of Irrigation, Highways and Drainage (1911).
The name changes again to the Department of Public Works, expanded to include the Bureau of Roads and Bridges; Bureau of Irrigation, Water Power and Drainage; and the Motor Vehicle Records Division (1919).
The department is renamed the Nebraska Department of Roads and Irrigation (1933).
The Nebraska Department of Water Resources is established as the prior department is divided into three separate state agencies, alongside the Department of Roads and the Department of Motor Vehicles (1957).
The Natural Resources Commission merges with the Nebraska Department of Water Resources to become the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (2000).
Future: Nebraska Department of Energy, Water and Environment
Nebraska is the only state with separate natural resources districts, which were created in 1972 as multipurpose, locally elected management bodies. There are currently 23 NRDs statewide.
Water management in the state is largely shared by the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Environment and Energy and NRDs, with specific support from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
A flow chart of the state’s water management based on water quality or quantity, surface water or groundwater. Management is divided among the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and 23 local Natural Resources Districts. Assistance also comes from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Nebraska Department of Agriculture. (Courtesy of Nebraska Department of Natural Resources)
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