LINCOLN (NE) July 16, 2015 - Funds to repair NRD projects damaged by spring storms are prominent in a Fiscal Year 2016 Budget tentatively approved by the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District Board on Wednesday. The tentative budget totals $25,247,907, about $3.3 million less than the NRD's first budget draft earlier this year. Some new programs were cut in order to balance expenditures with revenues and to accommodate $1.5 million in repairs after spring flooding. Even with the cuts, the property tax requirement would increase 3%, compared to the FY 2015 budget.

A multi-year plan to keep Lincoln's Salt Creek flood control levees safe and reliable would continue under the proposed budget, which will get final consideration on August 19th. The NRD is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address short and long-term maintenance needs along the 13-miles of levees, which have prevented an estimated $78 million in flood damage to neighborhoods and businesses since they were built in the 1960s.

The NRD's Homestead Trail remains closed from Saltillo Road to Firth Road after storms in early May caused surface and bridge damage. A two-mile portion at the east end of the MoPac East Trail, northeast of Elmwood, is also closed due to bridge damage. The latest estimate to repair the two trails totals $385,000. The total amount included in the budget for storm damage repairs to NRD projects along Salt Creek, Antelope Creek, various NRD dams throughout the District and the two trails is about $1.5 million. The NRD plans to submit the repair costs to FEMA for possible reimbursement.

The NRD plans to continue to help the communities of Valparaiso, Hickman, Pleasant Dale, Davey, Union, Elmwood, Weeping Water/Otoe RWD #3 and the Lower Salt Creek area from Waverly to Ashland reduce elevated nitrate levels in ground water. The tentative budget also includes administering allocations, rules and regulations in the Dwight-Valparaiso-Brainard Special Management Area declared in January of 2014, implementation of a new mobile ground water data system and a vadose zone monitoring program. The vadose zone is the underground area between the root zone and ground water.

An inventory of available water and studies of water supplies and uses in the District are in the proposed budget, as part of the NRD's Integrated Management Plan for managing both surface water and ground water. The NRD's participation in the Lower Platte River Basin Coalition, a group of central and eastern Nebraska NRDs and the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, would also continue. The coalition helps member NRDs better manage water resources in their individual districts by monitoring water supply and use on a more regional scale.

The construction of Havlat Dam, south of Pleasant Dale, in Seward County, would improve flood control in that area. The tentative budget includes $415,000 for its construction.

An extension of the Salt Creek Levee Trail, in Lincoln, from 14th Street to Cornhusker Highway is in the proposed budget. The new segment would be an extension of a trail segment that recently opened between 14th Street and Haymarket Park.

Through the Lower Platte River Corridor Alliance, the NRD plans to continue supporting several projects along the lower Platte River, including the removal of dangerous old obstructions in the river at Two Rivers State Recreation Area. Support for the Western Sarpy/Clear Creek project, a Platte River ice jam agreement and studies of invasive and endangered species would continue.

Detailed information about the tentative budget is available at lpsnrd.org. Two opportunities remain for public input on the budget. The first is August 13, during the NRD's annual Budget Public Hearing. Final consideration of the budget by the Board is set for August 19, during the Board's regular monthly meeting and public comments will also be invited at that time. Both meetings are at the NRD office, 3125 Portia Street, in Lincoln, starting at 7pm.