By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

"The overriding conclusion of the 2008 groundwater intrusion survey is that only 141 respondents (9 percent) had problems at the time of the survey and that a large percent (64 percent) of the people that (responded) have taken successful measures on their own," an executive summary stated.

That prompted Grand Island City Administrator Jeff Pederson to place the following question before the 10-member city council for a study session Tuesday night.

"Should the city proceed with further consideration for the implementation of the dewatering project as proposed in the Olsson Associates updated study?" he asked in a memo to the council.

Consulting firm Olsson Associates calculated last year that it would cost about $23.3 million to construct a dewatering system that would cost nearly a half-million dollars a year to operate.

The city spent $2,500 to prepare and send out 6,799 surveys in November to property addresses identified as being in floodplains in western or southern Grand Island.

A total of 1,554 surveys were completed. Of those, just 141 said they had water problems at the time of the survey.

Others reported recent water problems.

"This past summer was the first time in 10 years we have had groundwater seepage," one respondent reported.

"Our house is over 50 years old and this is the first time that it has had water," another survey stated. "The first time we had groundwater in our basement was on May 29, 2007."

Basements were allowed in some of the low-lying areas, the city said, because most were outside of city limits when they were first developed as rural subdivisions. There were no prohibitions to basements at that time.

A basement prohibition came about as part of the National Flood Insurance Program that went into effect prior to 1976 with the delineation of floodplains. But that floodplain was based on surface water flooding not groundwater intrusion, the survey report stated.

The village of Parkview had been annexed into southern Grand Island in 1969.

But then the June 3, 1980, tornadoes hit.

"At the request of the City of Grand Island, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved the construction of basements in the floodplain for future storm safety needs," the survey report said.

"FEMA approved an exception permitting basements built and designed to handle the hydrodynamic and hydrostatic pressure of a 100-year flood," the report stated. "This required an engineered design for basements in a floodplain."

The Capital Heights area in northwest Grand Island was annexed in 1984.

By 1995, the city had adopted a subsurface drainage requirement that made a dewatering system mandatory for any new construction where the basement was two feet or more below the curb of the adjacent street.

Numerous survey respondents reported having no basement or just a crawl space with no water problem.

"I personally believe spending that much money to lower the water table is BS. Instead, lessen the moratoriums and allow farmers to do so with irrigation," one survey respondent stated.

"I do not believe or support any of your groundwater nonsense. It is what it is you cannot do anything about it," another wrote.

One respondent said it would be cheaper "to fill in basements. After all, this is the Platte River."

That fill-in cost could come from city help, another suggested.

"Offer $60,000 to affected homeowners to fill in basement/add on. Will be cheaper in the long run," stated another.

But others indicated there may be a problem that is looming.

"We do not have water in our basement, but our sump pump is still running that's a problem! Measure worked until this spring. We installed our sump pump in 1992 and since that time it ran only once until this spring when the city water wells were shut," another wrote.

"We have had no groundwater in our basement since the flood in 1967. However, there are two to three houses near us which are pumping from crawl spaces," another stated.

"No groundwater intrusion yet! We will have some if we don't do something about standing water behind our house and in church yard. Need help from the city," another wrote.

Grand Island Public Works Director Steve Riehle said some affected homes are pumping discharge water into the storm sewer, while others in annexed subdivisions lack a storm sewer outlet.

"The installation of underground storm sewer in a subdivision would be handled through an assessment district," he said. "We would recommend the council create a storm sewer district if we received a petition."

That could be a solution handled on a more neighborhoodwide or subdivisionwide area. But it would come with a cost for those impacted.

"We would recommend a district boundary that made sense for the area," Riehle added. "The district would be subject to protest and would be assessed to the benefiting properties."

If you go

What: Grand Island City Council study session

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Grand Island City Hall, 100 E. First St.

Topic: Groundwater survey report