New Partnership in Sarpy County to Address Watershed Issues       

     The Papio-Missouri River NRD Board has approved an interlocal agreement with Sarpy County, and the Cities of Bellevue, Gretna, Papillion and Springfield to form the Southern Sarpy Watershed Partnership (SSWP) to develop policies related to storm water management in areas of Sarpy County that will likely see increased urbanization in the near future.

     “Now is the time to act to insure that both water quality and potential flooding issues are being addressed before development occurs,” said NRD General Manager, John Winkler. “We can avoid many of the difficulties we encountered in the Papillion Creek Watershed - trying to manage storm water runoff in an area already significantly urbanized,” he said.

     Sarpy County commissioned a Southern Ridge Wastewater Treatment Study in 2015 to consider options for providing sanitary sewer service in the southern area of the county not currently served by Omaha’s Papillion Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. This area, identified as the Southern Sarpy Watershed, has been a primarily agricultural area with some sand and gravel mining operations along the Platte River. The Southern Sarpy Watershed includes all areas of Sarpy County draining directly to the Elkhorn or Platte Rivers.

     After the Southern Ridge Wastewater Treatment Study was completed in early 2016, Sarpy County, the Cities of Bellevue, Gretna, Papillion and Springfield, along with the District, began meeting to discuss storm water management for new development in this area and to establish policies and regulations for new development.

      “This new partnership in Sarpy County will use many of the policies and structure of the highly-successful Papillion Creek Watershed Partnership,” said Winkler.

       Initial work for the new partnership will include development of a watershed management plan to address both water quality and quantity issues associated with new urban growth.

     Another top priority for this new Partnership is to assist the communities in administering the Federally-mandated National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), a  storm water management program required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ).

Attached:  Watershed Fact Sheet

Emmett J Egr, APR

Information/Education Coordinator

Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District

8901 S 154th St, Omaha, NE 68138

402-315-1708

eegr [at] papionrd.org

www.papionrd.org