Four natural resource districts are joining forces for a project that will increase water flows to Nebraska's Republican and Platte Rivers.

District officials have agreed to buy a farm south of North Platte and retire approximately 15,800 acres from production.

Doing so will allow them to save water that would otherwise be used for irrigation, and ship it down to the rivers when it's needed to make sure Nebraska stays in compliance with interstate water agreements.

The districts are expected to split the $83 million cost to buy the property and make upgrades to help ship the water.

Officials estimate that they'll need 17 miles of pipeline to transport water to both rivers.

The project could add about 45,000 acre-feet of water to both rivers.