By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

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Independent/Scott Kingsley Vern Rempe speaks to council members during a study session to address groundwater intrusion into basements Tuesday night. Independent/Scott Kingsley Paul Briseno, assistant to the city administrator, presents the groundwater intrusion survey data to the Grand Island City Council Tuesday night during a study session. Click Thumbnails to View

"It could amount to as much as $2,000 per acre foot of water that you put into the river that you could be reimbursed for, just for instream flows for the endangered species piping plover, least tern and the pallid sturgeon," said Milt Moravek, project manager at the Central Platte Natural Resources District.

Moravek said the Central Platte NRD may want to purchase the discharge water itself because of water moratoriums in the Platte River valley that require all new water uses have an offset.

The Central City ethanol plant had to buy a Wood River farmer's water rights in order to have enough water for the ethanol plant. The same is true for the Wood River ethanol plant, he said.

"There is a market for the water," Moravek said.

Although that money may not be enough for the projected $23 million construction cost of a dewatering project, Moravek said it could help cover the nearly $500,000 estimated annual operation cost of the district.

But one of the hardest hit homeowners, Cyndie Larson of 2811 Circle Drive, said she doesn't want the city to incur the cost of an expensive $23 million dollar project. She would be happy with a simple storm sewer outlet as a place to discharge the water that has filled her basement over the last year.

"I can't live in mold and water," Cyndie Larson, 2811 Circle Drive said. "We need somewhere to put our water."

It was a recurring theme from homeowners at the Tuesday night study session.

"We need a place to go with the water," said Gene Pletcher, 2805 Circle Drive.

He's lost a furnace and hot water heater to rising groundwater, but lives in a subdivision that lacks storm sewer outlets.

Grand Island Public Works Director Steve Riehle said storm sewer installation districts could be formed if neighborhoods wanted to circulate petitions to create them.

Moravek said his own home at 2426 W. LaMar also has a groundwater problem as does the neighborhood. He was asked to circulate a petition there.

That petition suggests that every homeowner pay between $250 and $400 a year to help pay for the dewatering. That's about the half the cost of what homeowners in that same area used to pay in flood insurance before construction of the Wood River flood control project, he said.

If 500 homeowners were in the dewatering district at $400 a year, that's a $200,000 revenue stream for the project plus the instream flow money that could help pay for operations, Moravek said.

Kevin Prior of consulting firm Olsson Associates, which designed the proposed dewatering project, said because homeowners with water problems were primarily from south Grand Island, he envisions scaling the project back to just that area. The cost would be "less than half" of the original $23 million construction figure, but it would still take about 12 to 18 months to design and build.

The big cost would be constructing discharge lines, which must be made outside of city limits to prevent flooding other downstream neighborhoods, such as Hidden Lakes, he said.

Some wondered why the city couldn't just reactivate drinking water wells it formerly ran in south Grand Island.

Grand Island Utilities Director Gary Mader said those wells were deep turbine wells and would have little impact on lowering the groundwater table at a shallow level. They are also connected to the drinking water supplies, which the city doesn't want to contaminate with those wells that tested positive for industrial solvents.

Vern Rempe, 1739 S. Arthur, said he usually needed to dewater about two to three months a year. Not so since the city shut off its drinking water wells last year.

"This is my 12th month running the sump pump continually," Rempe said.

"I understand the reason why those wells were shut off because you were afraid of the contamination," he said. "But on the other hand, you took one measure, which created a big problem for the rest of us. Why can't we take one step further and find a solution to remove some of that groundwater that has been increased."

Rempe also criticized the city's groundwater intrusion survey, which showed just 141 property owners out of 1,554 who responded have current groundwater problems.

Rempe said the survey didn't accurately reflect the severity of the problem.

Jayne Decker, 2018 Pioneer Boulevard, said the survey also didn't capture looming problems ahead. She said many homeowners in her neighborhood are discharging water from basements.

At least one has permission to discharge into a nearby storm sewer. Others are discharging onto lawns, which Decker fears will create future problems as the spring rainy season arrives and groundwater tables continue to rise.

Darrell Dey, 2404 Vandergrift, said it may be cheaper for the city to give impacted homeowners a loan to fill in their basement in order to prevent a drop in tax revenue from a devalued home filled with water.

Randy Stueven, 233 S. Gunbarrel Road, urged the city to assist in designing storm sewer for discharges.

"I'd like to see us pursue the project with the NRD," Councilman Bob Niemann said after the meeting. "We could have a public works project that pays for itself."

Niemann said he also wants to see some short-term solutions for seriously impacted property owners.

In Larson's case that may be a lifting of a city order that she disconnect her dewatering system from the city sanitary sewer system. It could also be a city directive to allow discharges in a former slough that was filled in on ground now owned by Sam Grimminger. It could also mean discharging into water detention cells.

No official action was taken Tuesday since the meeting was a study session.

Councilmembers Peg Gilbert, Mitch Nickerson, Joyce Haase, Tom Brown and John Gericke also expressed interest in arriving at some type of short-term and long-term solutions.