Lincoln starts construction on major project to secure second water source

As excavators whirred in the background, city officials in Lincoln stood in the middle of Holdrege Street on Thursday to celebrate the start of construction on the city’s massive Water 2.0 project.

The project, expected to be complete by 2048, will connect the city’s municipal water supply to the Missouri River. Currently, Lincoln sources all of its water from wells along the Platte River near Ashland.

Lincoln Mayor Lerion Gaylor Baird called Water 2.0 “one of the most consequential infrastructure projects in Lincoln’s history.”

The 98th Street transmission main, which broke ground on Thursday, is the first component of the project to begin construction. It will run underneath North 98th Street between Holdrege Street and Alvo Road, and it will connect the existing Vine Street Reservoir to the Northeast Pump Station.

Liz Elliott, the city’s transportation and utilities director, said the new water main will add redundancy to the existing water distribution and supply system in addition to serving as a key connection to the Missouri River when the project is complete.

“This project will create the vital connection where Lincoln’s current water system connects to its future second source of supply of the Missouri River when the final connection is made,” she said. “The 98th Street transmission main will be a crucial piece of infrastructure that will help support the city’s growth, provide backup in case of potential challenges or natural disasters, and make the city’s water distribution system more flexible and reliable for the future.”

Construction on the 98th Street main is expected to be completed next year and will cost about $36 million, all of which will be covered by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. The entire project has a multi-million dollar price tag expected to fall somewhere between $375 million and $800 million. The Legislature appropriated about $200 million in ARPA funding to support the project.

Elliott said survey work and conversations with landowners are ongoing in Lancaster and Cass Counties, where the transmission main to connect the Missouri River to Lincoln will eventually be built. The city and contractors are also working to identify potential wellfield locations along the Missouri River. The plan is to begin construction on a new water treatment plant near the river by 2035 at the latest.

A public community meeting will be held at Gibson Hall in Weeping Water on Thursday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Elliott and Gaylor Baird said regular community meetings will continue throughout the planning and construction process.