Cole Creek is part of a study designed to provide a greater understanding of the county’s stream assets and how they have been or are being impacted by the developing urban environment.

Stream Asset Inventory Under Way
in Douglas County

Cole Creek, which meanders through the Benson-Ames Alliance in northwest Omaha, is part of more than 8.5 square miles of water in Douglas County. Its condition, water quality and surrounding land use will be analyzed in the coming months in conjunction with a planned stream asset inventory.

The goal of the inventory is to provide a greater understanding of the county’s stream assets and how they have been or are being impacted by the developing urban environment, said Kent Holm, director of Douglas County Environmental Services. It also will start to explore the potential for transforming the stream corridors into a valuable amenity. “Our overall goal is improving water quality, and the inventory will give us the technical data we need to develop policies and recommendations that restore, protect and enhance the county’s water resources,” he noted.

CH2M Hill, an engineering and construction firm based in Englewood, Colo., will conduct the inventory. A grant from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality’s Stormwater Management Plan Program will fund the project.

The project contains essentially three phases, Holm said. Phase I will include an assessment of existing data from studies already completed and a field analysis of streams. Phase II will include the development of an outreach program to educate Douglas County residents and others about their role in helping create and maintain a healthy stream system. Phase III will provide the county with recommendations for future phases of the project.

The education/outreach program will help address the disconnect many people have regarding stormwater, Holm said. “They know there are storm drains in the street, but they don’t really stop to think about where the water in those drains goes,” he noted.

For example, when a person changes the oil in his or her car, chances are he or she wouldn’t dream of taking the used oil and dumping it in a nearby stream. That same person, however, might not think twice about dumping the oil on the ground or in a storm drain, where it will eventually work its way into the local water system. “It’s really about changing habits and behaviors,” he noted.

Another seemingly harmless practice – rinsing or sweeping grass clippings into a storm drain – will cause depleted oxygen for aquatic life. Spilled fluids or leaks from cars, boats and motorcycles should be cleaned up with an absorbent material and disposed of in the trash instead of being rinsed into a storm drain.

The county will be working with a number of community partners on the project’s education/outreach component, including Keep Omaha Beautiful, Omaha by Design, the Papillion Creek Watershed Partnership and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.

Connie Spellman, director of Omaha by Design, said data compiled by the inventory will be useful in generating support for enhancing the metro area’s creek system, one of the major goals of the Urban Design Element’s Green Omaha component. “Cole Creek, for example, could become a wonderful recreational asset for the Benson-Ames Alliance and the entire city,” she noted. “As it now stands, there are many people who don’t know that Cole Creek exists, and access to its banks is extremely limited.”

The project is now under way. For more information, contact Holm at kholm@co.douglas.ne.us.


Main Page