Municipal Water Leader May/June 2019

Volume 6 Issue 5

Governor Pete Ricketts: Recovering from Nebraska’s Historic Floods

May/June 2019

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6

Governor Pete Ricketts: Recovering from Nebraska’s Historic Floods

Contents

May/June 2019 Volume 6, Issue 5 5 Recovering From Nebraska’s Historic Floods

By Kris Polly

16 Preparing for and Fighting a Record-Breaking Flood: The Papio-Missouri NRD

6 Nebraska Flooding

20 Infrastructure Success on Salt Creek

10 Governor Pete Ricketts: Recovering From Nebraska’s Historic Floods 14 Congressional Action for Flood Recovery

By Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

24 Supporting Nebraska’s NRDs in Their Flood Response 30 The Nebraska Legislature’s Role in Flood Prevention 34 What Local Entities Should Know About Working With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

SUBMISSIONS: Municipal Water Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions. However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only upon request. For more information, please contact our office at (202) 698-0690 or municipal.water.leader@waterstrategies.com.

ADVERTISING: Municipal Water Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or municipal.water.leader@waterstrategies.com.

CIRCULATION: Municipal Water Leader is distributed to irrigation district managers and boards of directors in the 17 western states, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials, members of Congress and committee staff, and advertising sponsors.

For address corrections or additions, please contact our managing editor, Joshua Dill, at joshua.dill@waterstrategies.com.

Copyright © 2019 Water Strategies LLC. Municipal Water Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Municipal Water Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Municipal Water Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Municipal Water Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised.

Do you have a story idea for an upcoming issue? Contact our editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

4 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

MuniWaterLeader

COVER PHOTO: Governor Pete Ricketts. Photo courtesy of State of Nebraska.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STATE OF NEBRASKA.

MunicipalWaterLeader.com

Coming soon in Municipal Water Leader: July: DCP August: New Orleans Post-Katrina

Recovering From Nebraska’s Historic Floods

By Kris Polly

T

he flooding that hit my home state of Nebraska and other Midwestern states in mid-March 2019 was one of the most serious natural disasters in Nebraska’s history. The floods displaced thousands of people, shut down a third of Nebraska’s 10,000 miles of state highway, damaged or destroyed dozens of bridges, and wiped out dams and dikes. This issue of Municipal Water Leader is devoted to the stories of the fight against the flood and the recovery efforts that have followed.

In our cover story, we interview Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts about the devastating floods; the state’s response; and how the state can help Nebraskan well owners, farmers, and local governments. We also hear from one of Nebraska’s representatives in Washington, Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), about his efforts to help the state through federal legislation.

Nebraska’s natural resources districts (NRDs) were the entities responsible for much of the on-the-ground response to the flood. The Papio-Missouri River NRD, which includes stretches of the Platte, Missouri, and Elkhorn Rivers, was one of the hardest hit. General Manager John Winkler tells us about the record-breaking flooding in his district and its ongoing repair efforts. Lower Platte South NRD General Manager Paul Zillig explains why his district’s flood control infrastructure performed well and shares his insights for other managers. We also speak with Dean Edson, the

executive director of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts, about how his organization lobbies for NRDs’ interests. State Senator Brett Lindstrom was instrumental in extending the Papio-Missouri River NRD’s bonding authority; he explains the Nebraska Legislature’s role in flood control.

Finally, we speak with Steve Stockton, the retired director of civil works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, about what local entities like NRDs and municipalities should know about working with the Army Corps.

Though the recent floods were devastating for Nebraska, many of our interviewees this month attest that the people of the state are resilient, strong, and determined to rebuild. We applaud Governor Ricketts, Congressman Fortenberry, John Winkler, Paul Zillig, Dean Edson, Senator Lindstrom, and all the others whose determination and hard work saved lives this year and will contribute to the future safety of Nebraska’s citizens. M Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Municipal Water Leader magazine and president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

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MUNICIPALWATERLEADER.COM

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NEBRASKA FLOODING Nebraska is traversed by several mighty rivers, the Platte, Missouri, Niobrara, Elkhorn, and Loup among them. Many cities, regions, and natural resources districts were affected by the March floods; this map displays those that are discussed or pictured in this issue of Municipal Water Leader magazine.

JANUARY–MARCH

MARCH 11–13

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Record snowfall leaves up to 3 feet of snow in parts of Nebraska.

Temperatures rise to 60° and up to 1.5˝of rain falls, melting the snow.

The Platte, Missouri, Niobrara, and other rivers flood, destroying dams and bridges and blocking roads.

6 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

ADVERTISEMENT Spencer Niobrara River

Elkhorn River

Papio-Missouri River NRD Missouri River West Point

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Salt Creek

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MARCH 18

MARCH 25

Offutt Air Force Base is flooded.

Gov. Pete Ricketts declares a state of emergency. Floodwaters begin to recede, but hundreds of miles of roads are still inaccessible.

President Trump signs disaster proclamations for Nebraska and Iowa.

MUNICIPALWATERLEADER.COM

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Flooding in Wisner, Nebraska.

GOVERNOR PETE RICKETTS: RECOVERING FROM NEBRASKA’S HISTORIC FLOODS

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Kris Polly: Governor, please tell us about the effect of the floods on Nebraska’s infrastructure and how the recovery is going.

Pete Ricketts: The flooding has been the most widespread disaster in our state history. Thousands of people have been displaced, whole towns have been evacuated, and some towns

10 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

have been entirely cut off. Some people whose homes were damaged still have not been able to move back in. At one point during the peak of the flood, a third of our 10,000 miles of state highways were closed. Within about a week, that number had dropped to about 275 miles.

Eleven miles of road are still closed. Fifteen bridges were out; 12 are still out; and 27 are in need of repair. Two hundred miles of paving needs to be repaired. The flood also wiped out dams and dikes. We don’t yet have a complete list of all the damage to county roads; they are still being assessed.

It is going to take a while for us to recover from this, since this infrastructure can’t be quickly fixed.

For example, we hope to have temporary structures up

by August to replace two bridges on Highway 12 and Highway 281. But it will take until sometime next year before we actually have permanent solutions in place.

In total, we have about $160 million worth of needed repairs for our highway system and local roads just along federal aid routes. We estimate that we also have about

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA.

he heavy rainfall and snowmelt that hit Nebraska in March caused the worst flooding in Nebraska’s history. All of the state’s major rivers—the Missouri, the Platte, the Elkhorn, the Loup, and the Niobrara—reached record heights, flooding homes and farmland. Dams, levees, and bridges were destroyed; livestock were washed away. Thousands of Nebraskans had to be evacuated. Governor Pete Ricketts declared that the floods had caused “the most extensive damage our state has ever experienced.”

Governor Ricketts joins Municipal Water Leader Editor-inChief Kris Polly this month to discuss the flood’s effects and how the state is responding to the damage and leading the recovery.

$85 million in damages to homes and businesses, about $400 million in livestock losses, and about $440 million in crop losses. The effect on our state has been significant.

I can tell you that the people of Nebraska are resilient. We’ve had great response from our local emergency medical technicians, firefighters, fire chiefs, sheriffs, police chiefs, and volunteers. They have done a wonderful job of keeping Nebraskans safe. I’m confident that we will rebuild bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.

Kris Polly: Please tell us about how the natural resources districts (NRDs) across Nebraska are responding to the flooding.

Pete Ricketts: The NRDs were on the front lines during this flood event and will continue to be on the front lines with regard to recovery. During the height of the flooding, NRD staff and board members were actively assisting state, local, and federal partners with getting warnings out, assessing evacuation needs, and other public safety measures. The NRDs maintain more than 700 flood control structures, and during the flood event, the NRDs worked around the clock to monitor them, clear debris, sandbag, and implement measures to maintain their integrity. Many of those structures held despite historic amounts of water. We witnessed records on the Elkhorn River, the Loup, the Missouri, the Niobrara, and the Platte. All these river systems were inundated with water at a level we’ve never seen before.

The NRDs’ flood-control structures in many cases performed admirably to protect our cities, though in some cases, it was just not enough to protect all the property during this flood.

We’re grateful for all the work the NRDs have done on flood control.

As the floodwaters have receded, the NRDs continue to work with our citizens, law enforcement, and emergency personnel to assess the damage on their flood-control structures and take an inventory of

projects that have been damaged.

The damage is extensive, and the situation is a lot worse than it was after the 2011 floods. Just to give you an example, with regard to Missouri River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told us that in the 2011 flood, 5 levees were damaged; this time, 50 were.

That means that the recovery is going to be long and expensive. Our NRDs have done great work with local partners and with state and federal agencies to access emergency funds and to expedite emergency repairs on critical structures. Some damaged levees, for example, have already had temporary repair work done to help protect communities. Now the NRDs are working to identify high-water marks and document the effect of the flood to inform future flood-control measures. The NRDs also have a hazard mitigation plan in place to assist individual communities applying for federal funding to mitigate future flood risk.

I really can’t say enough about how great a job NRD employees and board members have done helping individuals respond to and recover from this flood and helping us access federal disaster programs and document the damage.

Kris Polly: How have the floods affected drinking water supplies in the state?

Pete Ricketts: The widespread flooding has affected a lot of public drinking water systems. Private wells were flooded, water mains were broken, and electrical systems went offline. That led to various communities losing water completely for a period of time or having their systems affected so that they were below capacity. In Boyd County, the water line was completely severed.

They’re working to repair it, but it’s going to take some time, so they’ve tapped into private wells.

Boyd County Rural Water System remains under a boil-water advisory.

The city of Peru’s well and water

treatment plant were flooded, so the city transported water from a nearby community to fill its water tower. The water system in Lincoln, our secondlargest city, had its electricity knocked out for several days, reducing its water capacity. Plattsmouth’s water facilities flooded. As a backup, it has tapped into a local water system, but it is not back at full capacity yet.

Private well owners have also been affected. Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Department of Environmental Quality have worked with federal, state, and local partners to test private wells.

We’ve tested some 786 wells and found that about 30 percent of those were positive for bacteria. We’re giving advice to those well owners about how to treat their wells so that they can provide safe drinking water to their families.

Kris Polly: What should residents do if they believe that their water supplies are unsafe or contaminated?

Pete Ricketts: If water from a private well is cloudy or its taste or smell has changed, it may be contaminated.

But private well owners should test the well water if they have any indication that their water supply has been breached by floodwaters, even if there is no notable change in taste or smell. Well owners can contact a local water professional to shock-treat their wells if they have been affected by floodwater. Guidance from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln on shock chlorination can be found at flood.unl.edu. Residents with private wells can obtain test kits by calling our state lab at (402) 471-3935 or by visiting our website at nebraska.gov and searching for DHHS water testing. The water testing kit, analysis, and shipping and handling cost about $17 plus postage.

Kris Polly: What financing tools can Nebraska’s government and legislature give to NRDs or local entities to construct flood-control infrastructure for the future?

MUNICIPALWATERLEADER.COM

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Pete Ricketts: We have a couple of programs. The state allocates $11 million every year to our Water Sustainability Fund. The NRDs, as well as other public and private entities, can apply for money from that fund to build watersustainability and flood-control projects. The state also puts about $3.3 million a year into our Water Resources Cash Fund. We also have the Nebraska Environmental Trust, which supplies money to NRDs for flood-control measures.

There are also a couple of additional things that we can do by working with other agencies. I think we all agree that the Army Corps needs to improve its 404 permitting process. The State of Nebraska allocated $13 million in 2016 to the Papio-Missouri NRD to improve the levees around Offutt Air Force Base. The permitting process has taken 6 years and $6 million. They were finally set to start working on it this spring. If we had gotten that process done faster, the NRD would have been able to bring those levees up, which would have protected Offutt Air Force Base. The base suffered $350 million in damages. That’s an opportunity for improvement in the future. We can work with the NRDs to try to get the Army Corps to reexamine and streamline its permitting process. We have successfully shortened permitting times on the state level already, so I’m confident that the Army Corps can do it as well.

One of the other things we can do is work jointly with Congress to get the disaster bill passed. This is something that Congress really needs to focus on and get done, but it has been stalled so far. It’s important not only for Nebraska but for other states as well. I know that the Army Corps is working on a ton of different projects along the Missouri River. Fifty or more levees have been damaged in one way or another.

Some of the damage is huge. One levee has a breach that is 400 yards wide and 70 feet deep. That is a major repair project.

Congress can act to help us get these levees back in shape to help protect these communities from further flooding.

Kris Polly: What else can Congress and the administration do to help Nebraska at the state and local level?

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A flooded farm near Fremont, Nebraska.

intend to use to help counties with cash flow for their repairs.

Counties have to do the repair work first and can only apply for compensation afterward. Some counties may not be able to do that—the repairs they need may cost more than their roads budget. We’re going to be working quickly to get those repairs done and to get them back to normal. So far, the federal government’s response through the different agencies has been outstanding.

Kris Polly: What is your message to farmers in Nebraska who’ve been affected by the flooding?

Pete Ricketts: With regard to U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, the first thing they should do is

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA.

Pete Ricketts: The response so far has been fantastic. We were able to get a disaster declaration in record time. The administration turned it around in just 2 days. I want to credit the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for working with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency to get that disaster declaration in shape so that we could submit it and for expediting its processing and getting it to the White House for President Trump to sign. Now we’ve got over 500 FEMA people on the ground. The expedited process allowed Nebraskans to tap into those federal resources quickly.

So far, FEMA has distributed over $21 million in personal or individual assistance, and $22.6 million in flood insurance has been paid out. We’ve had $25.8 million in U.S. Small Business Administration loans going out to homeowners, renters, or small businesses. The U.S. Department of Transportation has given us $25 million in Quick Start funds, which we

another case in which Congress could pass a disaster relief bill, it could provide relief to our farmers and ranchers, specifically with things like crop losses that are not covered by insurance.

Kris Polly: How have Nebraska’s citizens responded to the flood?

Pete Ricketts: Local folks did a fantastic job responding to the most widespread national disaster we’ve ever had in our state’s history. They did a great job keeping people safe. The victims themselves have displayed such resilience in bouncing back from this and moving on to rebuild. It has been amazing.

For example, we had first responders whose houses were flooded out, and they didn’t go home. They stayed on the job, keeping people safe. There were flood victims who went to the shelter and then volunteered there. They got into the volunteer line instead of the assistance line. That’s the spirit of Nebraska.

“We can’t get home, so we might as well help somebody else.”

It gives meaning to the words “Nebraska Strong.” It’s been amazing to see how people responded to this tragedy.

Citizens have generously donated to organizations like the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, the Nebraska Cattlemen, the Nebraska Farm Bureau, and the Salvation Army. Hay has come in from all across the Midwest, and even from as far away as North Carolina, to help our livestock producers.

Kris Polly: Please tell us about your vision for the future.

Governor Ricketts visiting flooded land in Norfolk, Nebraska.

contact the Farm Service Agency office so that they can get reimbursed through some of the programs that are out there.

We have used the Livestock Indemnity Program, which reimburses livestock producers for 75 percent of the market value of the animals they’ve lost. It’s key that they document that damage. There’s also the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program for some of our nontraditional livestock, and the Emergency Conservation Program, which helps remediate pastures and cropland. I’ve seen some of the places affected, and the amount of sand and silt that has been deposited is just incredible—in some spots it is 4–5 feet deep. Some of these fields look like they’re in the desert. It is stunning to see the damage these floods have left behind. Huge blocks of ice have been left in the pastures near the Niobrara River. This is

Pete Ricketts: We want to rebuild bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. It’s going to be a team effort. It’s going to require people at the local level to help assess what local needs are; it’s going to require the state to act as the quarterback; and it’s going to require federal resources as well. This is not going to be a quick recovery in some cases.

Some of this infrastructure is going to take a while to rebuild.

Remediating some of these fields is going to take a while as well. Some fields are likely not to get planted this spring; some pastures may not be able to be grazed.

Working together, we will continue to take the steps necessary to repair our infrastructure, remediate our farm fields and our pastures, and get back to where we were before and rebuild bigger, better, and stronger than before. M

Pete Ricketts is the governor of Nebraska. He can be reached at pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or at (402) 471-2244.

MUNICIPALWATERLEADER.COM

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CONGRESSIONAL ACTION FOR FLOOD RECOVERY

By Congressman Jeff Fortenberry

Flooding in West Point, Nebraska.

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as $120 million will go to Offutt’s immediate cleanup and operational needs. Second, working with the representative from Iowa, we moved additional funds into the Emergency Watershed Protection Program to restore scarred lands and infrastructure. This important relief for our nation’s environmental security will reshape eroded stream banks, repair water control structures, fix levees, and restore conservation priorities.

Both measures were adopted and included in the larger bill that passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 257 to 150. While this package has to be reconciled with the United States Senate and signed into law by the president, we are now in the open field running. I am hopeful that lingering obstacles with both the White House and Senate can be overcome quickly.

Other items in this bill include a provision to address the loss of onsite grain stores as we continue to assist in the multiagency effort to help farmers ready their damaged fields for planting. I will continue to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the natural resources districts as levee repairs begin. Importantly, the House-passed bill includes $2 billion in funding to repair damaged Army Corps projects.

The decimation caused by the calamitous flooding is matched by our strong-willed and resilient communities.

Nebraskans are moving forward; our communities are getting back on their feet. With federal help to address serious and long-lasting damages to the infrastructure and to our land, we will recover and remain Nebraska strong. M A version of this article was previously published on Congressman Fortenberry’s website.

Jeff Fortenberry represents Nebraska’s First Congressional District in the House of Representatives. For more information, please contact Congressman Fortenberry's office at (202) 225-4806.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN JEFF FORTENBERRY AND THE STATE OF NEBRASKA.

was pleased that the U.S. House of Representatives recently took concrete steps to help Nebraskans rebuild after the flood. In both the Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, and before the whole House, key amendments were offered and passed to help our farms, communities, and our important military instillation—Offutt Air Force Base.

While Nebraskans are known for their humility, independence, and fortitude, the combined effects of the bomb cyclone affecting fields, roads, and watersheds has triggered a national response. In times like these, America’s impulse is to help our neighbors, even if they are far away.

Earlier damage from hurricanes and wildfires have created an alliance of representatives pulling together for the greater good of our country.

The well-established federal precedence of emergency response to natural disasters and follow-up with supplemental assistance occupied much of the congressional calendar and political energy in recent weeks. Though these measures have to be worked methodically through the system, important first steps were taken. Here’s what has happened.

After confirming with the secretary of the Air Force on the precise numbers, I offered an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Appropriations bill that was under consideration. This legislative vehicle is primarily for military infrastructure and is one of 12 appropriations bills to be considered each year. Working in a bipartisan fashion, the committee recognized that substantial expedited assistance was necessary for Offutt Air Force Base. As I conveyed to my colleagues, it’s pretty jarring to see one of our nation’s key military installations a third underwater. In the end, the committee allocated $300 million.

Almost simultaneously, the full House of Representatives considered a disaster relief bill for many parts of America.

Two amendments to the bill achieved important results for Nebraska. First, working with the representative from South Carolina, we added funds to the military operations and maintenance account with the intention that as much

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Preparing for and Fighting a Record-Breaking Flood: The Papio-Missouri NRD Clear Creek Levee on the Platte River was breached by flood waters.

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he Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (NRD) is located on the Missouri River near the city of Omaha, Nebraska. The district is also bordered by the state’s other two major rivers, the Elkhorn and the Platte. The district has broad responsibilities managing the area’s natural resources, including flood planning and control.

In this interview, John Winkler, general manager of the Papio-Missouri River NRD, speaks with Municipal Water Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly about the record-breaking flooding his district suffered earlier this year and how he and his staff responded to the event.

Kris Polly: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

16 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

John Winkler: Our NRD encompasses about a third of the Missouri River in Nebraska, and our southern and western borders are the Platte River and the Elkhorn River, so the three major rivers of the state flow through and around our district.

Kris Polly: What kind of damage did the NRD experience?

John Winkler: Several of our levee systems overtopped, and we had at least two breaches, one along the Missouri River and one along the Platte River. The latter flooded Valley, Nebraska. There are numerous scour holes and washouts along the levees, and there are significant amounts of debris and silt, which is a big problem. Inside the Omaha metro area and the Papillion Creek basin, where we have a number of dams and levees, the system performed impeccably. There was little damage in the greater Omaha metro area. It was along the three major river corridors that the systems were overtopped or failed. The reason for that is that besides a few levees, there’s not a whole lot of control on the Platte and the Elkhorn. There are no dams to speak of, and there is no robust levee system along those. Of course, the Missouri is different. There is the U.S. Army

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAPIO-MISSOURI NRD.

John Winkler: I will have been with the district for 13 years in December 2019. I have a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in public administration, as well as a certification in mediation and negotiation, which comes in handy when dealing with the legislature and boards. Before I came to the NRD, I was the city administrator of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, which also experienced some significant flooding during this event. I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and I live along the Platte River, so I’ve experienced it at its best and worst.

Kris Polly: How much riverfront does your NRD have?

Corps of Engineers mainstem dam and levee systems around Omaha. We’re still assessing the damage, because the floodwaters took a while to reach some locations. Right now, we’re focusing on getting the breaches repaired and armoring some of the weaker spots in preparation for the next high-water event.

expect an additional $5 million to be added to our $22.7 million construction contract for the Missouri River levees that protect Offutt Air Force Base because of the damage some of those levees suffered. We hadn’t started that project, which was fortunate, because whatever had been built would have been compromised and damaged.

Kris Polly: What are the NRDs’ responsibilities with regard to flooding and flood control?

Kris Polly: Have you started to do repair work?

John Winkler: That is the main mission of NRDs. We are involved in constructing and maintaining levees, working with our communities and the state, and constructing all the reservoirs in our district. NRDs construct flood control reservoirs across the state. This is the wetter part of the state, so we have to worry about flash flooding.

Kris Polly: What was your experience with the flood?

John Winkler: This was such an overwhelming, fast event that there was little time to prepare. In 2011, we had a month or even longer. The Army Corps informed us about its planned releases and the expected level of the water. This time, the river was literally rising 1–2 feet an hour. We were trying to reinforce low spots on the levees where possible and making sure that people were safe and taken out of harm’s way. Trying to keep Offutt Air Force Base and the Omaha treatment plant dry was a huge issue for us, but we just got overwhelmed. There was nothing we could possibly have done to stop it. We tried to save all the material and infrastructure we could and keep everybody as safe as possible. We didn’t assist with evacuation, but we consulted with the weather service and the emergency management folks. We kept contact with the lake communities along the river, asking about the situation on the ground in real time.

Kris Polly: Did all three of those rivers flood?

John Winkler: All three were at record highs in many of the locations throughout our district. The Platte River exceeded the previous record by about 2 feet. The Elkhorn was about 3 feet above its record height. The Missouri River, right at its confluence with the Platte, was 4–6 feet above any previously recorded height. Flood stage on the Elkhorn River is 14 feet and it peaked at 22 feet, flood stage on the Platte River is 9 feet and it peaked at 13.7 feet, and flood stage on the Missouri is 26 feet and it peaked at 40 feet during the recent event.

Kris Polly: Do you have any preliminary figures totaling up the damage caused by the flooding?

John Winkler: We have recreational areas along the Platte and the Elkhorn that are completely decimated. Levee repairs will cost tens of millions of dollars. I would also

John Winkler: A lot of our levee systems are in the Public Law 8499 program, so we’ve been working with the Army Corps to quickly take action in the areas where the levees were breached. We’re doing what we can to protect our assets and investments. We went in and fixed one of them by ourselves because the Army Corps could not get to it fast enough. The Army Corps has been responsive, but its whole system from Omaha to Missouri was completely destroyed—a lot of the levees aren’t even there anymore— so its plate is full.

Kris Polly: Do you do construction work yourselves, or do you contract for it?

John Winkler: We do a lot of the construction ourselves.

However, we do contract the work on big levee breaches out to other firms and general contractors. We have quite a bit of equipment, but our resources are spread thin right now, so we’re contracting with bigger construction companies to take lead on those priority areas.

Kris Polly: How many employees you have?

John Winkler: We have 50 for a six-county area, including engineers and accountants and equipment operators. There are 10–15 maintenance folks who are out in the field doing repairs and cleanup. A lot of people have worn a lot of different hats during this event and done jobs they don’t usually do. Everybody has stepped up. We had a number of people during the flood, myself included, who had homes and families in harm’s way. No one even spoke a word about abandoning their posts. We had work to do, and they didn’t waver. They stayed at it 24/7 for quite a while during that whole event. They took their jobs extremely seriously.

Kris Polly: What has been the public reaction to the flood and to your work fighting it?

John Winkler: We’ve been to a lot of community meetings.

People have lost their homes and possessions, and their lives have been turned upside down, but few, if any, did any finger pointing. I don’t know if it’s just the midwestern mentality, but people came up to me to shake my hand, and I would look them in the eye, and they would say, “You know, we really appreciate what you did during the flood.”

A lot of our infrastructure performed impeccably, especially MUNICIPALWATERLEADER.COM

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in the greater Omaha area. People there didn’t even realize they were in any danger. I take that to heart. It’s my job to do everything I can to make sure that people are safe. We are working to mitigate as much risk as possible. No matter what we build, there’s always the potential that an event can overwhelm it, but I take some comfort in knowing that we have done everything that we could up to this point and that we’re going to do more.

Kris Polly: What is your message to Congress?

A breach in Levee R-613 on the Missouri River.

Crews working to fix the breach in Levee R-613 on the Missouri River near Offutt Air Force Base.

John Winkler: Both Congress and the state legislature need to put resources into infrastructure. You cannot complain that we need better infrastructure and hope that it appears by itself. There are no levee fairies or dam fairies to build these things. It takes money, it takes investment, and it takes time. The regulatory environment needs to be improved. Permits need to be given faster. We waited 6 years for a permit to rehab the Missouri River levee.

Arguably, if that levee system had been done, the Air Force wouldn’t be spending a half a billion dollars on repairs on its base. This event is a wake-up call, but how many wakeup calls have we had? The flood in Nebraska in 2011 should have been one. Everyone rushes to talk about what they are going to do in response, but 1 or 2 years later, they decide the solutions are too expensive. People have short memories. I don’t want to wait around for another 5–10 years and then have people act surprised when another flood happens. It’s really frustrating.

Kris Polly: It’s a safe prediction that the Missouri will flood again.

John Winkler: It will. The Platte will flood again, and the Elkhorn will flood again. Just in my lifetime, I’ve seen high-intensity rain events become more frequent. I am not a climate scientist or a meteorologist, but I can surely tell you that in this area, we are seeing higher-intensity storm events that dump a ton of rain in a short period of time.

That’s what we’re building for. Funding and permitting mean that it takes us 10 years to build a reservoir, but it only takes developers 2 years to fill a 300-home subdivision.

They’re building things faster than we can keep up. That can’t continue. It just does not work. M

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF PAPIO-MISSOURI NRD.

John Winkler is general manager of the Papio-Missouri NRD. He can be contacted at jwinkler@papionrd.org or at (402) 616-2457. For more about the Papio-Missouri NRD, visit www.papionrd.org/.

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Infrastructure Success on Salt Creek

Stevens Creek A17-1, located 4 miles east of Lincoln, is one of the 180 flood control dams owned and operated by the Lower Platte South NRD.

N

ebraska’s recent floods devastated the areas around the Missouri, the Platte, and Nebraska’s other major rivers.

Lincoln, the state capital, however, emerged relatively unscathed. Part of the reason for this was the successful performance of the flood control structures on the Salt Creek. These structures are operated by the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (NRD).

In this interview, Paul Zillig, general manager of the Lower Platte South NRD, speaks with Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about the district’s experiences during the flood event and its lessons learned.

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Joshua Dill: Would you tell us about the history of the Lower Platte South NRD?

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Joshua Dill: How big is your service area?

Paul Zillig: Our NRD covers 1 million acres, so we’re one of the smaller NRDs in the state. We cover parts of six different counties, including the city of Lincoln. NRD boundaries closely follow watershed boundaries, so we include the Salt Creek and Weeping Water watersheds along with a few other smaller watersheds along the lower Platte River. The population of our NRD was 314,000 as of the last census, but today it is probably closer to 350,000, with Lincoln’s population nearing 300,000.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOWER PLATTE SOUTH NRD.

Paul Zillig: I been working for the Lower Platte South NRD for 40 years. I went to the University of Nebraska, where I majored in natural resources and agricultural economics.

When I started here in 1979, the NRD had a staff of about six people. Since then, I’ve been involved in pretty much every aspect of what the NRD does. I served as assistant manager for 34 years and the last 3 years as general manager.

Paul Zillig: Nebraska’s NRDs started in 1972, when the Nebraska Legislature decided to consolidate the 180 existing special purpose districts around the state into the current 23 NRDs. The state gave the NRDs a dozen statutory responsibilities and authority on pretty much all aspects of natural resources management, including flood control, groundwater management, erosion control, water supply, drainage and stream stability, recreation, forestry, and fish and wildlife habitat. It also gave them the authority to levy a property tax. The state required that each NRD had a locally elected board of directors to set priorities, hire staff, and make local decisions concerning the budget, the tax levy, and projects and programs.

ADVERTISEMENT Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your experience during the recent flood.

Joshua Dill: How did your district’s flood control infrastructure perform?

Paul Zillig: It happened in mid-March, but it felt like the middle of winter owing to the amount of snow around. It was a surprise flood; we were anticipating nothing more than the usual localized flooding caused by ice jams along the Platte River as the spring melt occurs. We had 3/4 to 11/2 inches of rain. Typically, that type of rain event does not cause any kind of flooding problems or concerns. We were quite surprised at the amount of runoff. We monitored our flood warning system of U.S. Geological Survey stream gauges and both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ and the NRD’s flood control dams. Salt Creek reached flood stage, but only caused minor damage. It was at its sixth-highest level in the past 50 years.

Without the Salt Creek levees in Lincoln, the 10 Army Corps dams (the largest dam, Branched Oak, was at a record level), and all the smaller NRD flood control structures, the flooding along Salt Creek would have been much worse! We did not fare nearly as well along the Platte and Missouri Rivers.

The multi-NRD Western Sarpy Clear Creek Levee Project performed well until the flood flows exceeded the 50-year design capacity. At that point, the levees overtopped and breached at a few locations. This was a common occurrence along the Platte and Missouri Rivers in eastern Nebraska.

Flood damage was widespread, and water supply services for our largest communities, Lincoln and Plattsmouth, were disrupted.

Paul Zillig: The NRD’s infrastructure performed really well. The NRD owns and operates approximately 180 small dams on mostly intermittent streams. We have 13 miles of levees along Salt Creek. The Salt Creek Levee Project is an Army Corps project that the NRD now owns and operates. The Army Corps also has 10 flood control structures in the Salt Creek watershed. The largest of those structures, Branched Oak Lake, a reservoir of a little less than 2,000 acres that was built in the 1960s, was at an alltime high. It was storing 4½ feet of additional floodwater (8,190 acre-feet of water, or 2.7 billion gallons) that otherwise would have caused more flooding downstream. Both the levees and the flood control structures functioned really well.

There’s no doubt that the damage would have been a lot worse without those projects in place.

Joshua Dill: How did this flood compare to previous floods?

Paul Zillig: The flooding along the Platte and Missouri Rivers in this NRD was at all-time record levels. We hope not to see that again anytime soon! The flooding along Salt Creek was minimal: Flood elevations in Lincoln were approximately 8 feet below the record flood of 2015.

Joshua Dill: What kind of damage to your district sustain?

Paul Zillig: The main damage was to bridges and infrastructure along both the Platte and Missouri Rivers.

Agricultural land was flooded and damaged by erosion and debris, but crop damage was minimal. Sand and gravel operations along the Platte River sustained some damage and have been out of operation. Local roads sustained damage.

Homes, cabins, and businesses along the floodplain sustained damage, and several were destroyed. A number of bridges, railroad lines, and levees were damaged. The City of Lincoln’s well field is in the floodplain area along the Platte River that was also affected. The City of Plattsmouth experienced quite a bit of damage to its sewage treatment plant, and its wells will be not operational for most of this year; it has an agreement to purchase some water from a local rural water district.

Joshua Dill: What are your top lessons learned from this experience?

Paul Zillig: The top lesson learned was that we need to keep in mind the amount of potential runoff that existing snow and ice can present. Before this flood occurred, 3/4 inch of rain wouldn’t have concerned me, but with the frozen ground and the snow and ice already on the ground, there was an additional 2–3 inches of runoff in the watershed just waiting to happen. We are accustomed to a gradual melting of snow and ice, but in this case the rain caused a rapid melt that resulted in the widespread flooding. We’re fortunate that we didn’t have even more rain, like many other NRDs did.

Joshua Dill: What are your top issues going forward?

Paul Zillig: The main challenge for the Lower Platte South NRD is aging infrastructure. We have 180 dams and 13 miles of levees. We need to make sure we continue to monitor and inspect those projects and determine when the pipes, culverts, and other facilities need to be repaired or replaced. We are also partnering with the Army Corps on a $25 million flood control project here in the city of Lincoln, the Deadman’s Run Flood Reduction Project. It’s basically a conveyance channel/bridge enlargement project.

There are about 500 homes in the 100-year flood plain, so the potential flood damages and flood insurance costs are sizable.

We hope to implement this project in the next 3 years. The City of Lincoln and the NRD are sharing the local costs.

We’re also partnering with the City of Lincoln to look at a flood resiliency study for the Salt Creek floodplain area. We are looking at the successes of other communities and at best management practices. We are also looking at climate change and what we can anticipate in the future and trying to figure out the steps we can take to reduce the threat of flooding.

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The Lower Platte South NRD operates and maintains the 13.5-mile Salt Creek Levee Project in Lincoln, seen here during the flood of May 2015. The $22 million project has reduced flood damages by $99 million since its completion in the 1960s.

In addition to flooding, another issue is drought. Three local NRDs have partnered with the Cities of Lincoln and Omaha and the state to prepare a drought contingency plan with the assistance of the Bureau of Reclamation. We know that both droughts and floods will occur again.

Joshua Dill: What has been your experience working with the Nebraska Legislature and the governor?

Paul Zillig: We have a good working relationship with the legislature and the governor. The districts of 13 of Nebraska’s 49 state senators overlap at least to some degree with this NRD. We reach out to them annually to offer to meet and discuss natural resources, any of the NRD projects or programs, or any concerns or needs in their district.

Joshua Dill: What is your vision for the future?

Paul Zillig: We really want to protect our natural resources for future generations. As I look at it as the general manager of the NRD, we really need to look closely at what we can do to minimize flood damage. There are different ways of approaching that, including projects and better floodplain management.

Our district is also looking at improving the quality both of groundwater and surface water. It is already good, but it can be better. A lot of what we do besides flood control is trying to work with landowners on helping them manage their land to improve their surface water, the runoff from their land, and the groundwater beneath their property. M

Paul Zillig: My advice is to continue to properly maintain your flood control projects. Overall, our flood control projects operated as designed. There were instances where the flows exceeded the projects’ design capacities and damaged them.

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Paul Zillig is general manager of the Lower Platte South NRD. He can be contacted at pzillig@lpsnrd.org.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LOWER PLATTE SOUTH NRD.

Joshua Dill: As a district whose infrastructure performed quite successfully in this flood, do you have any advice for other NRDs?

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Looking upstream at Spencer Hydro Facility after the flood. The Niobrara River used to flow through the structure and now goes around it.

Supporting Nebraska’s NRDs in Their Flood Response

T

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Dean Edson: I used to farm corn and soybeans in central Nebraska, and I also had a livestock operation with about 150 sows and about 200 cows and calves. I farmed with my father until the mid-1980s, and then left the business during the agriculture crisis and moved to Lincoln. I went back to school, got a degree, and worked for the Farm Bureau for 11 years as director of state governmental relations. I’ve been with the NRDs as their executive director for the last 21 years.

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Joshua Dill: Please give us an overview of what Nebraska’s NRDs do.

Dean Edson: Nebraska’s NRDs are unique in the country.

Back in 1972, we merged 154 political subdivisions that worked in water management, soil conservation, or waste management, and turned them into NRDs. There are 23 of them in the state of Nebraska, with their boundaries determined by river basin boundaries rather than by county boundaries. The NRDs manage the natural resources within their boundaries for water quality and quantity, soil erosion, wildlife management, flood control, and recreation. The NRDs are governed by locally elected board members.

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about the work that the NRDs do in flood prevention and control.

Dean Edson: The districts own or operate over 700 floodcontrol structures in the state. They work closely with local communities to identify areas that need flood protection and work to build dams or levees needed to protect communities, farmland, and businesses. It is a grassroots approach to flood control. Local people make decisions about the types of structures they need and where they need them. All the meetings that we hold are subject to Nebraska’s Open

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOVERNOR PETE RICKETTS AND THE NEBRASKA STATE PATROL.

he state of Nebraska has a unique system of 23 natural resources districts (NRDs) that handle water quantity and quality issues, soil-erosion control, flood prevention, and other environmental concerns across the state.

The Nebraska Association of Resources Districts (NARD) is the trade association representing the NRDs, primarily before the state legislature and executive branch agencies.

In this interview, Dean Edson, executive director of NARD, speaks with Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about the NRDs’ response to the catastrophic flooding that recently hit Nebraska and what NARD has done to support them.

Meeting Act laws, so they’re open to anybody. When a flood control project has been identified, in addition to the regular monthly meetings the NRD will hold informational meetings that are also open to public input.

Joshua Dill: What role does NARD play?

Dean Edson: NARD coordinates lobbying efforts for the NRDs. We make sure that, first, Nebraska’s laws are correctly drafted to provide the NRDs with the tools they need to build flood-control structures, manage water for quality and quantity, or do soil-erosion protection. In addition to working with the Nebraska Legislature, NARD works with all the agriculture groups, municipalities, county officials, and state agencies to make all this work locally. We also run the insurance and retirement programs for all NRD employees.

Joshua Dill: When it comes to the NRDs’ flood prevention and reaction work, how does NARD step in or play a role?

Dean Edson: There are some state funds that are available for districts to use. Our job is to work with the legislature to make sure that adequate funding is available to build these projects. In the past, when there have been several large projects that needed to be built, we’ve approached the legislature about temporarily increasing funding to achieve that.

Joshua Dill: Tell us about your experience with the recent flooding.

Dean Edson: I’ve been working with state agencies, agricultural organizations, and local and county officials to cut the red tape, and with the governor to waive rules in this emergency situation. A lot of livestock were killed in the floods—some were just washed away and ended up on other people’s property. There are certain laws in place on the disposal

of dead livestock, but one of those rules was waived so that those animals could be buried and disposed of in the safest manner possible. Rules on the transportation of overwidth and overweight loads were also waived so as to allow the movement of equipment from one spot to the other.

At the beginning of this flood, over 3,000 miles of roads in Nebraska were closed. Seventeen bridges were washed out. There were ranchers who lived on one side of the river and had their livestock on the other side, and now couldn’t reach them. One guy up on the Niobrara River had to travel into South Dakota, and then over to Iowa, and back into Nebraska, and then come back up. What was normally a 4- or 5-mile trip turned into a 200-mile trip.

Joshua Dill: Are you generally working with the legislature or the governor?

Dean Edson: During emergency situations, we work with Governor Ricketts, state and federal agencies, local government organizations, and the agriculture groups to work through the problems that arise. We work with the governor directly and indirectly to try to assist in any way we can. We try to cut red tape and get assistance directed to where it needs to be.

The local NRDs, on the other hand, are the entities that directly assist the victims of the flooding on the ground throughout the state. One thing they do is provide free water sampling. A lot of domestic wells were flooded out.

When that happens, drinking water can be contaminated by E. coli. Water sampling was made difficult because there are only six labs in Nebraska that are certified for this function by the Department of Health and Human Services, and with 3,000 miles of roads closed, they were inaccessible. When individuals take water samples, they have to follow certain procedures, including getting those samples to a lab within 30 hours of taking them.

With roads closed and mail service suspended, that was impossible for

most people. Local NRDs actually went out and took the samples for the individuals and delivered the samples to the labs, including laboratories in South Dakota and Iowa if they were closer. The NRDs also had collection sites where they would go to collect the samples and then drive them all down to a lab. The NRDs covered the costs of the transportation and the $17 per sample lab fee. About 30 percent of the samples were contaminated with E. coli. The NRDs then worked with the individual well owners to help them clean up their well water. The University of Nebraska extension was also helpful; it has what we call NebGuides, which are guidance documents on how to clean contaminated wells. The NRDs gave well owners and well-drilling contractors those information sheets so that the well water could be properly treated.

Joshua Dill: What are your organization’s top priorities right now?

Dean Edson: Right now, we’re working on a legislative bill with the Nebraska legislature to extend the bonding authority for the PapioMissouri NRD, which covers the Omaha area, so that it can build more flood-control structures. Its current bonding authority is set to expire at the end of this year; we’re working with the legislature to extend that for 5 more years. Those funds will be used to build additional structures in the greater Omaha area and repair some of the levees that were destroyed by the recent flood. In Nebraska, we have a unicameral, nonpartisan legislature.

Procedurally, once the bill gets out of committee, there are three rounds of votes. This bill has already advanced past the first two rounds, so it has to pass one more. We’re pretty confident that we should be able to secure the votes that we need to get that to advance.

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your vision for the future.

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Dean Edson: These widespread floods show the need for additional structures to protect communities and farm ground throughout Nebraska. I think we’re going to have to be more proactive in developing additional protection measures. This event was pretty rare: The ground was frozen, the rivers were frozen, we had a lot of snow on the ground, and then we got 4 inches of rain. The whole state was like a concrete parking lot. All the rain ran off. That’s what caused the majority of the flooding. I don’t know whether we will have another one of these again.

In the future, we’re going to have to be more diligent and aggressive in making sure that we have adequate levees and dams to protect the public and its lives and property. In those areas where we had flood-control structures in place, they worked, and those communities didn’t get flooded out. A couple of dams and levees got breached, but the number was low. Spencer Dam, which got washed out, was an old dam that wasn’t operated by the NRDs. It was a public power facility, and it just couldn’t handle the volume of ice and water that was coming down the Niobrara River. Ice is piled up 15 feet high on the banks of the river and will probably take until mid- to late summer to melt.

In central and southeastern Nebraska, our structures held up and protected the local communities; the volume of rain during the storm event was much smaller. M

The Spencer Hydro Facility before and after the flood.

Note the chunks of ice left on the structure.

Large slabs of ice were piled up on roads and on the banks of the rivers.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT AND TAMMY MORROW-JULESGARD.

Dean Edson is executive director of the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts. He can be contacted at dedson@nrdnet.org. For more about NARD, visit www.nrdnet.org.

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The Nebraska Legislature’s Role in Flood Prevention

The Nebraska State Capitol, completed in 1932, where the Nebraska Unicameral meets.

W

hen historic floods recently hit Nebraska, the state’s legislature, executive branch, local governments, and regional entities all worked together to respond and to rebuild.

As one element in the rebuilding process, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB 177, a bill to extend the bonding authority of the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (NRD) and allow it to carry out more flood control projects.

State Senator Brett Lindstrom was the sponsor of LB 177. In this interview with Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill, Senator Lindstrom explains the role of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature in the flood control process and how the legislature works with the state’s NRDs. Joshua Dill: Please about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

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Joshua Dill: Please tell us about how the recent floods affected your district.

Brett Lindstrom: My particular district is in a primarily residential area of northwestern Omaha, and Omaha and its suburbs did not get hit nearly as badly as cities like Fremont, which is only a

30-minute drive away; Valley; or even Elkhorn, which is just west. That was due to the fact that the NRDs, particularly the Papio-Missouri River NRD, had taken precautionary steps over the last couple decades to guard against the effects of floods.

In the state as a whole, the costs of repairs are astronomical. President Trump declared an emergency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is going to pick up the vast majority—I think 75–80 percent— of the costs. Without that, we would be in trouble.

Joshua Dill: Would you give us an overview of what the Nebraska Legislature’s responsibilities are when it comes to flood planning and response?

Brett Lindstrom: Most flood response activities are the responsibility of the governor and executive branch agencies like the Department of Transportation.

The NRDs are also vital. As you may know, there are 23 NRDs in the state; their boundaries follow river basins. I learned a lot about the NRDs when, during my first 2 years as a senator, I sat on the legislature’s Natural Resources

PHOTO COURTESY OF TONY WEBSTER.

Brett Lindstrom: I grew up in Nebraska, and I work in the financial services industry. I’ve been a state senator for 5 years. I represent District 18, which is in northwestern Omaha.

About 40,000 people live in my district.

I had been relatively engaged in politics

as an observer prior to my run for office, and my predecessor was termed out— Nebraska state senators are limited to two 4-year terms. So I started knocking on doors—I ended up knocking on about 10,000 of them—and was elected to office. I was reelected this past November.

When I ran for office, I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into; I don’t think most of us do. You talk about maybe three different issues when you’re going door to door, but when you get to the legislature there are 700 issues. I didn’t even know anything about NRDs when I first started. The Unicameral is unique when it comes to legislation. All 49 of us senators are free agents, so I can bring whatever bills I want forward.

Over my 5 years in the legislature, I have passed about 30 bills on a whole host of topics.

ADVERTISEMENT Committee, which oversees the NRDs. It is one of the 14 committees in the Nebraska Legislature.

I also learned a lot about Nebraska’s compacts with other states, including Kansas. There was a lawsuit a couple years ago when Kansas alleged that Nebraska hadn’t provided it enough water. There are a lot of moving parts to this. There have been legal battles over groundwater versus surface water.

The NRD system was cutting edge when it was first established in 1969 in that it addressed strategy both for groundwater and surface water. The legislature authorizes the NRDs to carry out flood control projects. We can put a limit or a cap on how much they can levy, in this case 4.5 cents per $100 of property valuation per year. I suppose that the legislature also has the authority to change or eliminate the NRD system entirely, but the NRDs have done such a good job over the last several decades that there is no reason to do that. In fact, other states have looked at how we deal with water issues, and from what I’m told, some states are envious of our system.

My district is within the PapioMissouri River NRD, which covers a few counties—Burt County, Dakota County, Douglas County, Thurston County, Washington County, and Sarpy County, the last of which is the fastest-growing county in the state. Papio is the only NRD that can bond. It pays its bonds back using funds raised through its levy.

Its levy lid, like that of all other NRDs, is set at 4.5 cents per $100 of property valuation. In fact, it only levies 3.7 cents, 1 cent of which is the bond levy. If the NRD wanted to add another cent to the bond levy, that decision would need to be approved by a vote of the people. It has six or seven different projects planned, which would get rid of floodplains where there is now population. That’s the NRDs’ mission.

We just helped extend Papio’s bonding authority, which was set to expire this year, by passing LB 177.

We originally intended to extend it by 10 years, but to get it out of committee we had to amend it to 5 years. Certain

senators were hesitant to support the bill because some of their constituents don’t like their local NRDs. There’s some history there; I don’t know all of it. Property taxes are also always contentious. In Nebraska, your property taxes go to support the school districts and the NRDs. That was why I got some pushback and why the bill was filibustered. However, the governor signed the bill. I think he’s seen what the NRDs have done.

Joshua Dill: How does the engagement between the NRDs and the legislature occur in practice?

Brett Lindstrom: The first hurdle is engagement. The NRDs themselves or members of their boards will either ask a senator to carry a bill or testify on something that pertains to them. I don’t know how many of the 49 state senators know all that much about NRDs, but the 8 members of the Natural Resources Committee regularly deal with them. Often, legislation pertaining to NRDs will be referenced to that committee.

Once the bill hits the floor, it is incumbent on the senator who is supporting it to explain it. There was a little confusion with regard to my bill because people didn’t know how the bonding mechanisms worked or understand the fact that adding an extra cent to the bond levy would require a vote of the people. NRD staff or board members may be on hand to help explain the need for the bill. Someone like John Winkler, general manager of the Papio-Missouri River NRD, will be outside the rotunda and can pull senators off the floor to explain his NRD’s needs and why a certain piece of legislation is important. It is part of the education process.

Since LB 177 was passed, other NRDs have also become interested in having bonding authority because of the flooding. The chairman of the committee told me that he has been getting requests from NRDs to be authorized to bond. We won’t introduce any bills until next year, however.

Joshua Dill: What further legislation is necessary to guard against or prepare for future flood events?

Brett Lindstrom: There is a lot of migration from the western part of the state to the eastern part. We need to allow entities like the Papio-Missouri River NRD to carry out the projects that are necessary to keep the population of their areas safe. That is what this bonding legislation addresses. Anytime you can get those dedicated dollars early in the process, it saves money on the back end on the cost of goods. They’re planning years and years out. I think that they are going to do about $26 million worth of projects in the next few years. The Papio-Missouri River NRD was a few weeks away from starting on a levee on the Missouri to protect Offutt Air Force Base, but the studies and preparations took a long time. If it had been able to do that sooner, then the base wouldn’t have been flooded as badly. It is taking precautionary measures to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Joshua Dill: What is your vision for the future?

Brett Lindstrom: I was involved in the legislation with the Papio-Missouri River NRD because it was in my backyard, though I don’t know if I am personally going to bring forward a bill that would grant other NRDs bonding authority. I leave it to the NRD groups to take care of what they need to do.

Because of term limits, I’ll be gone by the time Papio’s bonding authority expires in 5 years, but I hope that future legislators extend that authority. Papio has done good projects and prevented a lot of flooding. My vision is for them to continue to do the projects that they’re doing in those populated areas. They’ve done a really good job so far. M

Brett Lindstrom is a Nebraska state senator.

He can be reached at blindstrom@leg.ne.gov.

MUNICIPALWATERLEADER.COM

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After disasters, the Army Corps manages the Operation Blue Roof mission for FEMA.

What Local Entities Should Know About Working With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

T

he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has significant flood control responsibilities, both during times of preparation and during emergency events. During floods, it cooperates with state, county, and local governments, diking districts and levee boards, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other entities.

Steve Stockton, a senior advisor to the National Water Resources Association (NWRA) and Water Strategies, worked for the Army Corps for 41 years. In this conversation with Municipal Water Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill, Mr. Stockton details how the Army Corps works to respond to floods and what local entities should know about working with it.

Steve Stockton: I worked for 41 years for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the last 11 as director of civil works at the Army Corps’s headquarters. Civil works is one of the Army Corps’s two major programs, alongside military programs. The civil works side is responsible for navigation, flood control, aquatic ecosystem restoration, hydropower, and municipal and industrial water supply. It’s a broad range of responsibilities. There are about 25,000 people in the civil works program, and we have about 700 dams, about 240 lock

34 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER

Joshua Dill: How does flood control and response fit into the broader range of Army Corps responsibilities?

Steve Stockton: It’s one of its primary responsibilities.

Most of the Army Corps’s more than 700 dams primarily serve flood-control and navigation functions. However, multipurpose dams, like the ones on the Missouri River, have about eight functions. One function is providing floodcontrol storage, which requires keeping empty space in the reservoir. The other seven functions—hydropower, navigation, water supply, irrigation, fish and wildlife enhancement, and recreation—require retaining water upstream. Reconciling those two needs is a balancing act that depends on the hydrology of the region. The whole Missouri system has been litigated many times. In the early 2000s, the Army Corps, in coordination with other federal, state, and local entities, developed a master manual for the Missouri River, which

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

Joshua Dill: For readers who don’t know you, would you please introduce yourself ?

chambers, thousands of miles of levees, and thousands of miles of inland navigable waterways—more than the rest of the world combined. We have an emergency response program to support FEMA under emergency support function 3, which is for public works and engineering. We’re responsible for dredging all the ports in the United States. I retired about 2½ years ago and am currently a senior advisor for the NWRA and Water Strategies.

A damaged bridge on Highway 22, just south of Genoa.

includes a prescription for balancing water storage and floodcontrol storage.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE STATE OF NEBRASKA.

Joshua Dill: When a large-scale disaster like the recent flooding in Nebraska occurs, what are the Army Corps’s duties?

Steve Stockton: In emergency response mode, the Army Corps assists local communities with flood fighting, emergency repairs to levees, and managing the reservoir system to reduce flood flows. However, there’s always a bigger flood. I like to say that Mother Nature bats last. You have to manage the system based on averages, but something new can always happen. I’ve done a little reading on what happened during this flood event. There are six dams on the Missouri River. The lower two are basically reregulating dams and don’t have any substantial flood-control storage; most of the flood-control storage is in the upper four dams. In the recent flooding, when the storm came in, the ground was frozen, there was snow pack, and then there was rain. There was nowhere for the water to go except back into the river.

The system has a lot of flood-control storage, but Mother Nature did not cooperate, and most of the rainfall occurred downstream of those facilities.

Joshua Dill: In the disaster response activities you mentioned, what other entities does the Army Corps work with and what is the breakdown of responsibilities?

Steve Stockton: The Army Corps is in charge of the public works and engineering emergency support function under the National Disaster Response plan. We work under the

direction of FEMA, which gives us mission assignments and directives. We also have our own authorities under Public Law (PL) 84-99, which allows us to assist local stakeholders with emergency repairs and emergency flood protection management measures, like distributing sandbags. In the case of flood control, the Army Corps’s responsibilities are to respond to the event and to help local communities recover under the direction of FEMA. Joshua Dill: In cases in which you are assisting local stakeholders, how does that occur in practice? Does a state or local government call the Army Corps?

Steve Stockton: The Army Corps coordinates with state governments, county governments, and nonfederal sponsors.

Typically, though, if levee districts and diking districts have their levees in the PL 84-99 program, and they properly maintain their levees and get certified and accredited every year, then they’re eligible to receive the benefits of the program. Most of the Army Corps’s work is directly with the levee districts. Aside from the PL 84-99 program, we can still get mission assignments from FEMA. Those missions often include the emergency roofing of structures, known as Operation Blue Roof, and logistic support for generators and debris removal.

Joshua Dill: What should local government entities know about how best to cooperate with the Army Corps?

Steve Stockton: Diking districts and levee boards should be participating with the Army Corps during annual inspections and building personal relationships during normal, MUNICIPALWATERLEADER.COM

| 35

nondisaster times. There are 38 Army Corps civil works districts in the United States, and it is primarily a civilian organization. Diking districts and levee boards should know who the points of contact are, who the authorities are, and what their shared responsibilities are.

Joshua Dill: What are the best ways to establish those relationships?

Joshua Dill: Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?

Steve Stockton: The Army Corps is always a lightning rod when a disaster occurs because people want to blame somebody. The Army Corps will be as responsive as possible within its authority and within the appropriated money that it has. You can reduce risk, but you can’t eliminate it. There’s always a bigger storm. M

Steve Stockton: Invite Army Corps staff out to see the projects and visit them at least a couple times a year in their offices to go over issues of mutual concern. As in any kind of relationship building, the two parties need to know each other and understand each other’s roles and responsibilities as well as their limitations and constraints. For instance, John Winkler, the general manager of the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, has a good relationship with the Omaha District. He talked to the district engineer, who is a colonel, several times a day during the flood event.

He knows the people to talk to and what the issues are. It is also good to be part of a professional organization like the NWRA, which allows members to share strategy, lessons learned, and advice about how to work with different Army Corps districts and how they resolve policy issues. Don’t try to do everything yourself. There’s strength in numbers, especially when you are trying to change policies or pass legislation.

Steve Stockton is a senior advisor to the National Water Resources Association and Water Strategies and is the retired director of civil works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He can be contacted at sstockton@nwra.org.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

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