Opinion ID: 1929178
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Validity as Applied

Text: But that does not end our Commerce Clause inquiry, for Ponderosa Ridge also asserts that the statute is unconstitutional in that regard as applied. It first argues that the director erred by requiring it to quantitatively determine the negative effects of the proposed withdrawal and requiring it to demonstrate why water from Wyoming sources was not its first choice. However, as discussed in part (2) below, Ponderosa Ridge bears the burden of presenting evidence on these factors in order that the director can make a determination on whether to grant the application. Such a requirement does not place an impermissible burden on Ponderosa Ridge. Ponderosa Ridge next argues that the director cliscriminated against interstate commerce in his order by stating: Finally, denying [the application] will not result in the well being shut down. Instead it will be pumped with the water used to irrigate cropland in Nebraska.... The argument is that in the director's order, the purposes of conservation and preservation are not being considered if the ground water from the well is to be used in Nebraska, but are considered if the ground water is to be used in Wyoming. However, this aspect of the order more fully reads: 4. Negative Effects . . . . Finally, denying [the application] will not result in the well being shut down. Instead it will be pumped with the water used to irrigate cropland in Nebraska.... Thus, in pumping from the aquifer the well would still serve as a safeguard against the possible spread of pollution in the manner described by Lerwick ... and Listone [sic].... The testimony of James R. Lerwick, vice president of the board of directors of Ponderosa Ridge and president of the company that manages the daily operation of Ponderosa Ridge's production facility referred to in the director's order, was as follows: Q Is there a particular reason that the well is located downgradient from the nursery facilities? A Well, of course, the most obvious is that we'll learn the water flows this way from west to east downgradient and that as we've worked with Wyoming DEQ, we've worked under an assumption that the cone of depression is the best monitoring of our lagoons and the deeper we can develop the cone of depression, the more likely we will be to observe if there is any leakage of nitrates or any other contaminants to the water table and not only detect it, but be able to control it, and so Q And how do you control it? A The way that we control it, of course, is to create that cone of depression that lets the water flow until it reaches the cone and then down into our pumping, pump station, and back into our system, and that would allow us at some point in time, if it ever came to that, to empty the lagoons, which would stop the nitrate, continue the pumping for irrigation or whatever purposes until the nitrate leaching ceased. The testimony of Christopher D. Lidstone, a geologist and hydrologist called by Ponderosa Ridge, to which the director referred, was as follows: Q Would you describe for me how you were involved in the water quality permitting for Ponderosa in Wyoming? A In the State of Wyoming, DEQ Water Quality Division has a series of rules. The Chapter 3 regulations supplied [sic] to wastewater lagoons, as part of the requirement for a permit to construct, one must evaluate the aquifer conditions in the area and develop as appropriate potential monitoring locations and to look at, from the standpoint of potential for contamination of the ground water, and that's Water Quality's primary role. . . . . With respect to the pig farms that ... Lerwick has spoken about, they were fairly new in 1990. That was really the first of all the commercial pig farms that had been applied toand ... Lerwick's operation had a water-handling scheme that required land application as part of it, and also required the flushing and water use aspects of things. At that stage of the game, we proposed to Water Quality Division that we actually use our production wells for monitoring, and Water Quality Division required us to establish that the pumping well itself would serve as a monitoring point and that's where we first began the modeling efforts that we've done on behalf of the various pork operations over the past. Thus, the director was not cliscriminating against interstate commerce by the questioned statement in his order, but, rather, was noting that denying the permit will not cause a negative effect because the well could still be used as a monitoring point to check for contamination from leakage of Ponderosa Ridge's wastewater lagoons. In addition, the director did not state that the quantity of water sought to be transferred could still be used to irrigate cropland in Nebraska. Therefore, the inference Ponderosa Ridge wishes to draw, that the purposes of preservation and conservation were ignored because the water sought to be withdrawn for Ponderosa Ridge's project could be used to irrigate cropland in Nebraska, is not warranted. The North Platte Natural Resources District was required by the Nebraska Legislature to file a ground water management plan, which must address issues of ground water conservation and management, including when to impose quantity controls. § 46-673.01. The director's order therefore has no bearing on the quantity of water that can be withdrawn from the well to irrigate cropland in Nebraska.