Where should a new giant lake be built? Engineers say Gretna area is out, suggest alternatives
Engineers have ruled out the leading site proposed for a giant lake in Sarpy County because of concerns it would impact wells serving the city of Lincoln.
In a new study, they say the site in the floodplain west of Gretna, which lawmakers originally envisioned for a lake to rival Iowa鈥檚 Lake Okoboji, is not a viable lake location.
Instead, they have identified three other potential lake sites, among them a site south of Springfield in southern Sarpy County where they say a lake could be excavated along the river.
A map in their study, made public last week, shows the potential lake location south of Springfield on the north side of the river near Nebraska 50, from Riha Road to South 120th Street.
The location is downstream of Louisville.
The site south of Springfield would be of sufficient size for a roughly 2,100-acre lake, the report says, smaller than what lawmakers advocating for a lake had originally envisioned.
The other potential sites identified in the study would involve damming the Elkhorn River near Nickerson or the Salt Creek between Greenwood and Ashland to create lakes about 4,100 acres in size, the report says.
Rather than giving a green light to any of the three sites they identified, the consultants suggested further study.
鈥淲hile no fatal flaws were identified for any of the potential lake locations fully analyzed in this study, challenges and possible adverse impacts were identified for each lake,鈥 the report says. 鈥淢ore detailed analysis would be needed to identify the extent to which possible impacts could be mitigated.鈥
The Nebraska Departments of Natural Resources and Economic Development were advisers on the study, which stemmed from the work of a special committee of the .
Created in 2021, the Statewide Tourism and Recreational Water Access and Resources Sustainability committee 鈥 STAR WARS 鈥 produced a report contemplating that a lake of 3,600 acres or larger could be excavated in the flood plain along the river鈥檚 east side northeast of Ashland.
It was envisioned as an economic driver, pulling in tourists, creating jobs and driving real estate development.
Subsequently, the current study was conducted by two engineering firms, Olsson and Black & Veatch, for the Lincoln Water System and the Metropolitan Utilities District.
While tasked with several objectives, a key goal for the engineering firms was to determine whether a lake of this scale would impact Platte River wellfields operated by the City of Lincoln Water System and MUD.
According to the study, the committee鈥檚 suggested site west of Gretna was determined 鈥渘ot to be a viable lake location鈥 because it coincides directly with a portion of the wellhead protection area of the Lincoln Water System wellfield.
A wellhead protection area is the surface and subsurface area surrounding a water well or wellfield supplying a public water system. It is the area through which contaminants are reasonably likely to move and reach a well or wellfield.
A big recreational lake with residential and commercial development 鈥渨ould stand to present threats to water quality in the local aquifer as well as the hydrologically connected Platte River,鈥 the report says.
The decision to rule out the original proposed site should ease the concerns families who farm the bottoms west of Gretna, whose lives were hurled into limbo by the prospect of a lake inundating their land, some of which had been in their families for generations.
鈥榃hat鈥檚 the next step?鈥
While the study calls for additional study of the proposed new sites, it does not spell out how such an effort would be carried out or funded.
Jesse Bradley, interim director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, said the department has money for further studies, but he doesn鈥檛 know what the next step will be.
Officials with the Nebraska Department of Economic Development said in a statement that the department is reviewing the study鈥檚 recommendations as it coordinates with the governor鈥檚 office, Legislature and other agencies to consider options going forward.
鈥淭here鈥檚 now just a big question mark, what鈥檚 the next step?鈥 said John Winkler, general manager of the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District.
While the NRD provided some initial advice to lawmakers, it has not been involved since, he said. The originally proposed lake site would have been within its jurisdiction.
Winkler suggested creating a permanent entity like the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority to manage such a project. MECA operates the CHI Health Center, Omaha鈥檚 downtown arena and convention center. Such an entity would span administrations and legislatures and lie outside state agencies and NRDs.
鈥淎t the end of the day, it鈥檚 a very complicated issue and it鈥檚 going to take more time and more money to flesh out,鈥 he said.
Damming rivers, as proposed for the Salt Creek and Elkhorn River lakes, he said, would involve working through a series of environmental and permitting issues.
When the NRD builds flood control reservoirs, it is working on small creeks in small watersheds. That takes about a decade.
鈥淎 larger one, like Salt Creek or the Elkhorn, it starts ratcheting that up,鈥 he said.
The study made clear that sandpit lake development already has increased in the area.
Many have been developed into private communities with houses built around the lake perimeter. In 1984, about 131 lakes covering 3,390 acres had been built within the study area. By 2023, there were about 231 lakes covering 8,035 acres.
The study鈥檚 authors concluded it was 鈥渞easonable to assume鈥 that private sandpit lake development would continue in feasible areas in the absence of a large lake like that envisioned by lawmakers.
From its inception, lawmakers have envisioned the lake as a public-private partnership, in which private dollars would help facilitate the construction and operation of the lake.
A separate study on the feasibility of such public-private partnerships, also made public this week, found that philanthropists and real estate developers are enthusiastic about a lake project, according to Pat Morris, president of the Nebraska Philanthropic Trust, with whom the state contracted on the study.
Support is strong, regardless of where the lake ends up, Morris said.
There were, however, some practical concerns noted in the study, such as ensuring that a lake would be maintained into the future, and questions from developers about the timeline to build it, land acquisition and how to provide infrastructure such as sewers and roads to support development around a lake.
鈥淲e think it would be good to further study it, whether it鈥檚 at this location or another location,鈥 he said.
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