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Lower Platte South NRD Adopts Tentative Budget

Lower Platte South NRD Adopts Tentative Budget

07/22/2021

LINCOLN, Nebraska – The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (LPSNRD) Board of Directors tentatively approved a Fiscal Year 2022 Budget at its regular monthly meeting on July 21. The $33.8 million balanced plan for revenue and expenditures will have a public hearing Wednesday, August 18, and public comments will also be welcomed when the budget receives final consideration during the next regular meeting of the Board, on August 26. Both meetings will be held at the LPSNRD office, 3125 Portia Street, in Lincoln, starting at 7 PM. 

FY 2022 Tentative Budget highlights include:

  • Antelope Creek streambank repairs, 40th St. to Scott Ave. ($2.3M)
  • Surface Water Quality cost-sharing assistance to landowners ($1.9M)
  • Deadmans Run Flood Reduction Project, 48th St. to Cornhusker Hwy ($1.6M)
  • Salt Creek Levees operation & maintenance ($1.3M)
  • Groundwater Management ($1.1M)
  • Homestead Trail bridges, culverts & bank stabilization ($900K)
  • Upper Salt 3-A Watershed Rehabilitation ($790K)
  • Salt Creek Resiliency Study implementation ($700K)
  • Antelope Creek drainage pipe rehabilitation ($700K)
  • Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch ($650K)           
  • Community Assistance Programs ($415K)

The complete tentative budget is available at LPSNRD.org. Board Treasurer Bob Andersen said, “The tentative budget reflects fiscal responsibility by the Board, while maintaining a commitment to protecting natural resources.”

The Board also approved an expansion of its Cover Crop Cost-Share Program to include the Salt Creek Watershed, upstream of Lincoln.  Cover crops help reduce field erosion, increase soil organic matter, capture and recycle soil nutrients, manage soil moisture, reduce soil compaction and much more.  Following a pilot program in 2017, LPSNRD began offering the cost-sharing program in 2018 to landowners in selected areas of the district and applications have increased each year.  The action by the Board on Wednesday increased the eligible acres by about 300,000.  Additional changes increased the programs payment rate and payment limits, minimum acres and how applications are prioritized.  Interested landowners should contact their county NRCS field office as soon as possible to verify eligibility and complete the application process. 

In other action the Board:

  • Approved an Inter-Governmental Agreement with the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (319 grant), which outlines responsibilities, reimbursements and reporting requirements for the Twin Lakes Watershed Implementation Project, approved by the EPA in June. The grant and LPSNRD matching funds will provide incentives to landowners in the watershed to install various best management practices for water quality. ($300,000)
  • Approved contract modifications with Intuition & Logic Engineering for the Beal Slough Channel Stabilization, 70th to Pine Lake Project ($13,601)
  • Approved an agreement with the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission allowing mentored hunting on the Warner Wetland property and limiting hunting on the property to only mentored hunts.
  • Approved a licensed agreement with Kenneth and Carolyn Mohr for temporary access to property they own near the Homestead Trail at Roca.
  • Moved the August regular meeting of the Board to Thursday, August 26, 2021.

The next meeting of the Board will be held on Thursday, August 26, 2021, at the LPSNRD office, 3125 Portia Street, in Lincoln, starting at 7 PM. The public is welcome. 

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