SPENCER — A rural water district official is worried about how to provide water for the thousands of people and cattle in his northern Nebraska county after a wall of water, ice and debris swept away a vital pipe.
Boyd County Rural Water District is working to repair about 1,500 feet of pipe that crosses beneath the Niobrara River and carries drinking water to the county. The private entity supplies water to the towns of Spencer, Lynch and Anoka, as well as 500 local farms and ranches.
Replacing the supply line will cost more than $1 million, and the water district will be responsible for about $400,000, said Rex Black, the district board's volunteer chairman.
Boyd County's water district officials are reaching out to private and business sectors for funding assistance, and have even started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money, Black said.
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"As a water district, we are nonprofit and only have so much money to work with," he said, noting that officials are turning to creative funding opportunities so they don't have to raise rates.
It could take more than 40 days to get water running after repair work begins.
Boyd County is among the counties that have been included in a federal disaster declaration.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will likely pay for 75 percent of repairs, but it could take years before officials get access to the funds, said Douglas Fox, the emergency management coordinator for Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Keya Paha and Rock counties.