ELMWOOD, Neb. (KMTV) — For the first time since 1995, the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District is updating its plan to manage groundwater.
A public meeting was held Thursday in Elmwood, where Paul Woodward, a senior water resources engineer with HDR, presented on the nearly 80-page management plan.
Woodward explained that the state's many natural resource districts exist to address unique challenges in each region.
"Cass county does have, other than next to the bigger rivers the Platte and the Missouri, they kinda have limited access to groundwater that is available to them," Woodward said.
While water availability and geology is not really able to change drastically over a short period of time, Woodward said usage and quality have shifted over the past 3 decades.
"A lot of what is being monitored is for nitrate in the groundwater," Woodward said.
The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy website shows Elmwood's nitrate levels are high and outlines health risks associated with exposure, including methemoglobinemia, an illness that can be deadly for infants or those with certain gastrointestinal conditions.
Woodward said cropland practices are thought to be a driver of the contamination.
"There are other contaminants too but nitrate's kinda one of those ones that's kinda thought to be derived from practices on cropland," Woodward said.
Only a handful of neighbors attended Thursday's meeting, including Mark Patton, a Cass County resident who is running to be elected to the Lower Platte South NRD board. Patton said water access is central to the region's future.
"Water is probably the limiting factor in our economic development in this region," Patton said.
While Patton appreciated the data presented, he left the meeting with concerns.
"I'd like to see the plan place more emphasis on potential solutions," Patton said.
I've spoken to Patton before about water in Cass County. He is a part of the citizen-led coalition Cass County – Our Water, Our Future, a group that focuses on the Lincoln Water 2.0 project. He tells me that he thinks the groundwater management plan will be important in relation to Water 2.0 talks moving forward.
When I asked Woodward about how he thought the projected 2048 water treatment project could potentially impact Cass County, he told me it could be beneficial to communities that do not have nearby river access.
More information about the plan is available at lpsnrd.org.
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