Some of city’s wells damaged by flood still not operational

The March floods damaged some of Lincoln’s wells along the Platte River. 

The city said four are still not operational, while one is completely destroyed.

The good news: They do not foresee this causing any mandatory water restrictions this summer.

“We are affected by the flood that occurred, so we’ve lost about 18 million gallons a day of capacity that we can pump to the city of Lincoln,” Transportation and Utilities assistant director Donna Garden said.  “So we’re looking at a total pumping capacity of somewhere between 90–95 million gallons a day.  That’s plenty to take us through the summer.”

Garden said it will cost a total of around $10 million to repair and replace the wells and that federal and state aid could cover some of that.

She said the city will discuss how to pay for the rest at the upcoming mid–biennium budget.