After more than three decades of planning, overcoming regulatory hurdles, and opposition from area landowners, MUD officials began pumping water from the Platte River in July.
ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 7:00 pm
The Lincoln Water System has a new thirsty neighbor on the Platte River: a $352 million water treatment plant built by the Metropolitan Utilities District.
After more than three decades of planning — and overcoming regulatory hurdles and opposition from area landowners — MUD officials began pumping water from the Platte River in July.
The Platte West Water Treatment Plant, the largest construction project in the utility’s history, is designed to meet Omaha’s water needs for the next 50 to 60 years. It is the district’s third water treatment plant.
MUD officials dedicated the project Wednesday with about 200 guests, including state and Lincoln Water System officials, at a ceremony held in a massive, gray building north of Gretna.
“Today, we celebrate the completion of the triangle of reliability,” said MUD board Chairman Tom Dowd. “We now have three water treatment plants surrounding the metro area to provide a reliable, abundant supply of high-quality water.”
MUD also operates the Florence Water Treatment Plant on the Missouri River and the Platte South plant south of Bellevue.
Platte West, about six miles upstream from Lincoln’s wellfields and water treatment plant near Ashland, adds another 100 million gallons to the MUD drinking water distribution system.
Together, the three MUD plants can pump 334 million gallons of water a day. The pumping capacity of Lincoln Water System is 100 million gallons per day.
Lincoln Water System and MUD officials have discussed at length whether Platte West will affect Lincoln’s water supply. Based on computer modeling simulations and other data, they’ve concluded it will not harm Lincoln’s drinking water supply.
“Our intent is to be a good neighbor with everyone on the river,” MUD President Tom Wurtz said during a media tour of the new plant. “We understand we share the water.”
If Lincoln experiences water supply or shortage problems, he said, MUD will curtail pumping at Platte West. Wurtz said the new plant will be used mostly during the summer when water demand is the highest. Having it online will allow MUD to rebuild its two other water treatment plants, Wurtz said.
In addition to completing its triangle of reliability, MUD sees Platte West as vital to the area’s growth. Wurtz said companies look at the cost of water, but also at a utility’s ability to provide water well into the future.
“Omaha is the greatest driver of revenue for the state of Nebraska,” said Dowd. “Our goal has always been to provide an economic growth engine for Omaha and the surrounding area.
“We’ve already seen Platte West’s economic development in western Douglas and Sarpy counties. We’ve put our community on solid footing for responsible growth.”
Construction of Platte West started in spring 2003, and more than 1,200 skilled craftspeople worked on the project, Dowd said.
The utility had $135 million when it began construction and financed $196 million with bonds. Wurtz said customers can expect to see about a 5 percent increase in their bills over the next few years.
MUD began planning for a third water treatment plant in 1972 and bought land northeast of Yutan for the project. It sold that property after it found a better location. Platte West is about four miles from the Platte River.
The change in location and MUD’s plan to pump huge amounts of water from the Platte created opposition from land owners in Saunders and Douglas counties who were concerned increased pumping of the alluvial aquifer would lower the water table and reduce water levels in area ponds and lakes.
The Platte West plant has not been in operation long enough to determine what effect pumping will have on area ponds and lakes. However, MUD officials say their goal is to not cause any damage to neighboring property. If that does happen, they say, they will work with landowners to compensate them.
Water for Platte West will come from 42 wells, 26 of those drilled on 1,200 acres in Saunders County and 16 on about 1,000 acres in Douglas County. The wellfield is connected to the water treatment plant by a four-mile pipeline, parts of which are under the Platte and Elkhorn rivers.
Environmentalists and area residents also worry the increased pumping could draw contaminated ground water from the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant near Mead into the Platte River. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers say that won’t happen.
“EPA offers assurance to the community that proper steps have been taken and will be taken in the future so that the MUD Platte West Water Treatment Plant will not be impacted by contamination from the Nebraska Ordnance site,” Scott Marquess, remedial project manager for the Superfund site near Mead, wrote in a Sept. 2 letter.
Marquess based EPA’s assessment on the following.
* The extent of the groundwater contamination at the ordnance plant has been well defined.
* Computer modeling predicts that contamination from the ordnance plant should not migrate to the new MUD plant when the utility is pumping at permitted rates.
* A “robust” monitoring program has been under way at the site for some time and will continue. It provides an early warning mechanism so timely corrections can be made, if necessary, to contain and keep contaminants from entering the wellfield.
To keep down costs, MUD officials, in partnership with the engineering firm HDR, designed the Platte West plant to be as energy-efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. For example, the utility installed wetland rain gardens to delay runoff from rooftops and paved areas. Low-voltage control systems and controlled lighting also help reduce electricity use. And native grasses, which require less water, have been planted around the plant.
MUD says it plans to continue its water conservation program.
Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 402-473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.