Service | Rates | Gas | Water | Home
12.15.02 M.U.D. sees Platte as clear pick The Missouri River carries five times as much water past Omaha each day as the Platte River. So why would the Metropolitan Utilities District choose to put its new $300 million well field and water treatment plant along the more ecologically vulnerable Platte River -- especially when landowners and public officials in that area of the Platte River valley oppose the expansion? "What's wrong with the Missouri River?" said Tom Jaudzemis, the county attorney in Saunders County, which is fighting M.U.D.'s proposal. "It's the second-largest river in the country. They've got all the water they need right there. It's what they've been using over 100 years -- all of a sudden there's something wrong with it?" M.U.D. and the Army Corps of Engineers say public health and affordability are driving the decision. The reasons they cite:
The Platte West expansion will be one of the costliest public works project in the metro area, comparable in cost to Omaha's new convention center-arena. After about eight years of review, a decision by federal officials on a permit may come by early next year. If approval comes, litigation by those who oppose it could follow. About 60 percent of the wells that M.U.D. would install would be in Saunders County. Officials there worry that the water table will drop, reducing the profitability of farmland, decreasing property values and harming the environment. The driving force for the expansion is summer water use -- lawn sprinklers, swimming pools, carwashing -- not drinking water. If it weren't for summertime demand, the utility already would have enough capacity to meet average daily demand for about 30 years, according to the corps. But if Omaha wants to have a growing, vibrant economy, an expansion like this is the only responsible choice, local and federal officials say. "You have to have a good water supply," said Tom Wurtz, general manager for M.U.D. "Without this, the metro area is not going to grow. You'd have to stop development." Already, west Omahans are experiencing water pressure problems in the summer -- mostly related to sprinkler use. For two years, M.U.D. has asked people to restrain outdoor watering in the summer. More important, M.U.D. has told two Sarpy County developers that the utility cannot guarantee water to their developments until M.U.D. receives federal approval for this well field. Without this expansion, more developers will hear that same message, Wurtz said. Small towns that want to tap into M.U.D.'s water system might not be able to as the utility retrenches. John Fullenkamp, an Omaha attorney who works with developers, said the impact of M.U.D.'s expansion goes beyond whether any particular suburbanite gets a new home. New construction is just about the healthiest portion of the nation's anemic economy. Letting that come to a halt, he said, would be "shooting the golden goose." "Just think about the economic activity from one house," he said. "You've got the carpet layer, the electrician, the plumber, the guy who provides cable, the guy who sells the television. . . . The ripple effect of (development) is significant." In studying M.U.D.'s options, the Army Corps of Engineers rejected outright any plan that relied solely on the Missouri River -- despite its obvious bounty of water. That's because of the risk of contamination along the river and the threat of terrorism, said Rodney Schwartz, who is overseeing the corps' analysis of M.U.D.'s plans. M.U.D. gets about 68 percent of its water from the Missouri. Most of the rest comes from another plant downriver on the Platte aquifer. With this proposed expansion, M.U.D. would draw water almost equally from the Platte aquifer and the Missouri River. Even if there were no threat of terrorism, water from the Missouri River is at risk of contamination. About 230 barges ply the river each year, hauling fertilizer and petroleum products. Eight industrial pipelines cross the river north of Omaha, transporting natural gas, petroleum and anhydrous ammonia. A nuclear plant operates along the river about 20 miles north of town. An accident involving any one of these could disable M.U.D.'s Missouri River treatment plant. And while the utility has never had to shut down its plant, other towns have had to close theirs. Based on the experience of those towns, an outage here could leave the metro area without its major source of water for anywhere from two days to two months. Today, M.U.D. would face a severe shortage but probably could limp along under those conditions, Wurtz said. But in the coming decades, an outage along the Missouri River could leave northeast Omaha without water, according to a utility analysis. The corps conducted a detailed analysis of six options for providing Omaha with water, each using to some degree at least one of three spots along the Platte aquifer. The site that M.U.D. prefers would cost about $726 million to build and operate over 25 years, compared with the $1.2 billion price tag of an option that taps water from both the Platte aquifer and Missouri River. The Missouri River option costs more because the water is not as clean and more pipes would be needed to move the water from the Missouri to western Douglas and Sarpy Counties, where the growth is. Ninety-five miles of pipe would have to be laid, compared with 11 miles using the Platte West site. Laying pipe from the Missouri River westward also would disrupt existing Omaha neighborhoods. The site along the aquifer that M.U.D. has selected appears to provide the cleanest water of the choices available. The utility can sink its wells deep into the aquifer and draw up water that has been naturally filtered of impurities and sediment. River water, on the other hand, is awash with sediment that has been flushed from fields. "This is one of the best Platte River groundwater sources in the state," Wurtz said. "and it's where we need to be at." |
The Metropolitan Utilities District plans to expand its peak capacity by almost 40 percent -- with the intent of meeting maximum demand for at least 30 years. Water source: Platte River aquifer. Cost: $300 million to build, $7.3 million a year to operate and maintain. Water rates already have gone up to pay for the plant. How much water? The new plant would be allowed to pump 19 billion gallons a year from the aquifer, enough to fill about 15 square miles with water six feet deep. (Note: 1.42 trillion gallons flow past this site in an average year.) M.U.D. would be allowed to pump up to 104 million gallons on any given day but would be restricted to an annual average of 52 million gallons a day. M.U.D. currently can pump 234 million gallons a day. In 2030, it is expected to need 330 million gallons during the hottest, driest days. When: The plant is expected to take five years to bring on line. M.U.D. would begin work next year. Where: The wells would be placed along the Platte River southeast of Yutan, in both Saunders and Douglas Counties. The water plant would be built at 216th and Q Streets. Who receives M.U.D. water? 176,000 customers in Omaha, Bellevue, Ralston, La Vista, Elkhorn, Bennington, Fort Calhoun and Waterloo. | |||