1.23.06
A new lake called peril to wellfield
by Nancy Gaarder, Omaha World-HeraldA massive lake proposed along the Platte River near Mahoney State Park would flood wellfields for Lincoln and Omaha, resulting in enormous costs to reconnect those water supplies. The impact could be enough, some say, to scuttle the lake proposal.
"The lake as configured in the (newspaper) is not going to happen," said Tom Wurtz, president of the Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha.
"You can't say you're going to take one-third of the water supply of Omaha and all of the water supply in Lincoln and say you're going to have economic growth -- that's not going to happen."
Bing Chen, the University of Nebraska professor who envisions the lake as a catalyst for economic development, said the costs would be worth it.
"They'd have to move -- yes, it's a pain," Chen said of the wellfields. "But given the long-term benefits for the metroplex, that pales in comparison." Chen is chairman of computer and electronics engineering at the Kiewit Institute.
M.U.D. would lose the $350 million it is investing in a new wellfield and nearby treatment plant, Wurtz said.
The wellfield has been built and the treatment plant is scheduled to begin operating in 2008. The project was designed to meet the Omaha area's water needs for decades to come, accounting for one-third of M.U.D.'s total capacity.
Steve Huggenberger, assistant city attorney in Lincoln, said the cost of replacing Lincoln's wellfield and treatment plant, if both were flooded, could reach $1 billion. Virtually all of Lincoln's water comes from the wellfield that would be flooded. A nominal amount comes from another site.
State Sen. Pam Brown of Omaha, who is sponsoring a bill to study the feasibility of the lake, said she thinks engineers can come up with a solution to the problems faced by M.U.D. and the City of Lincoln.
"This is not meant in any way to jeopardize our drinking water," Brown said. "If anything, it's supposed to make things like that better."
The 80-square-mile lake would include residential, commercial and business development on one side and generally natural areas on the other.
Chen said it's the type of project that could help the state retain some of its brightest young people.
"Do you want to be the next Appalachia or do you want to create a vision for yourself?" Chen said. "That's a question eastern Nebraska has to ask itself."
State Sen. Rich Pahls of Omaha, a co-sponsor of the study proposal, said addressing the issues raised by M.U.D. and Lincoln are the reasons behind the $3 million study.
"That's why you'd have a study -- to find out the good, bad, the ugly," Pahls said.
Economic growth and expanded recreational opportunities have been touted as among the primary benefits of the lake. A hydroelectric dam also would provide about 50 to 70 megawatts of electricity.
But Wurtz said economic development would be a casualty of flooding the wellfield. The Omaha area cannot grow without that water.
"Maybe a lake would be a good idea," Wurtz said. "But Omaha needs this wellfield for economic growth."
Lake water, Wurtz said, is not a suitable substitute for water from an aquifer.
For one thing, pumping by the cities would affect the lake's level, lessening its attractiveness for recreation, he said.
For another, M.U.D. would be trading a "very pure" water source -- the aquifer - -for surface water subject to contamination by human activity. Indeed, Wurtz said, reservoirs built for drinking water often restrict human access.
Huggenberger said a look at M.U.D.'s political troubles in building its wellfield indicates how difficult it would be for Lincoln to move to another spot along the aquifer. M.U.D. struggled for years to overcome opposition by local landowners and government officials.
"If the question is 'Could we move?' We could probably move," Huggenberger said. "But I don't know if the state is willing to spend that much money to have us move."