Project Name: Deadman's Run Flood Risk Management Study
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Authority: Section 205 of the Flood Control Act of 1948, as amended
Sponsors: Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (NRD), City of Lincoln
Current Phase: Feasibility
The Lower Platte South NRD and city of Lincoln (non-federal sponsors) are partnering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Omaha District) on a study to evaluate possible flood risk management solutions along Deadman's Run, a tributary of Salt Creek, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Significant floods and high water events have been recorded along Salt Creek and its tributaries in 1908, 1951, 1957, 1989, 2014 and 2015 with the events in June 1951 and July 1957 reportedly the most severe on Deadman's Run. Flooding along Deadman's Run is characterized as flashy with swift overbank flows once the stream spills out of the channel. In the upper part of the Deadman's Run basin, flooding can negatively impact U.S. Highway 34 (O Street), a major east-west roadway through Lincoln, while flooding in the lower basin can cause widespread residential and commercial property damage in northeast Lincoln. Lower basin flooding can also affect major transportation infrastructure including U.S. Highway 6, the BNSF Railroad main line and many major Lincoln streets including 33rd, 48th, 56th, Holdrege, Cottner, Vine, Leighton and Huntington.
The purpose of the Deadman's Run feasibility study is to identify the potential for developing flood risk management solutions, which could be structural and nonstructural, that are beneficial to the public, economically viable, and environmentally acceptable in this highly urbanized area.
Project Update: The Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment was approved by Northwestern Division on August 9, 2018. The Omaha District has received initial funding to begin the Project's Design and Implementation Phase, which starts with the signature of a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) between the Corps of Engineers and the Non-Federal Sponsor, the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District. It is expected that the PPA will be signed by both parties by the end of the November 2018, and the project design will start shortly after.