Papio NRD: Flood-control reservoirs helped spare Omaha metro from worse flooding

GRETNA, Neb. — Officials with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District say its reservoir system performed as intended during this week's storm to prevent flooding.

At Sergeant Mad Bear Recreation Area, Susan Plummer and Heather Reid frequently walk on the trail around the lake.

“In the last year we've probably been over here maybe five to 10 times,” Plummer said.

Plummer said the lake looked much different during previous visits this spring.

“The first few times we came, there was basically just a few puddles,” Plummer said.

Following the recent storms, water levels at Sergeant Mad Bear Lake rose about six feet, according to Papio-Missouri River NRD General Manager John Winkler.

“The system did what it's supposed to do,” Winkler said.

While high water left behind mud, damaged some plants and damaged the dock, Winkler says those impacts demonstrate the reservoir's role in flood control.

The lake is part of a larger network of reservoirs, levees and floodplain management projects designed to reduce flooding across the region.

“Fifty years of work building these reservoirs, building levees, making sure the floodplain doesn't get developed,” Winkler said, describing the long-term investments made by the NRD.

Winkler said the recent flooding event reinforced the value of those projects.

“I would safely say that in one night all the work that we've done in 50 years paid dividends,” he said. “It paid for itself in one storm event.”

Despite the system's success, Winkler said conditions came close to testing the limits of area flood-control infrastructure.

“We didn't have very much room on the levees left, maybe a foot, a foot and a half,” Winkler said. “But it wasn't just this reservoir. It was all the reservoirs — Zorinsky, Cunningham.”

Winkler says the water level at Sergeant Mad Bear is expected to gradually recede over the coming days.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.