Follow up: Sarpy County Dist Court dismisses NRD lakes project

Follow up Judge abruptly dismisses lawsuit seeking to prevent Papio NRD's project to develop Sarpy dams with private developers WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER A partnership between private developers and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District to build two dams near Papillion does not violate the law, Sarpy County judge Thompson ruled today. A group of landowners in Washington County sued the district to stop the project, alleging that the district had no authority to enter such agreements and that the proposed Shadow Lake and Midlands dams would benefit the developers more than the public.District Judge George Thompson abruptly ended the trial today after three days of testimony, surprising attorneys for the NRD who had planned to continue their case. Thompson ruled that a cooperative agreement among the district, the City of Papillion and the developers of the Shadow Lake Towne Center and Shadow Lake subdivision is valid. He dismissed the lawsuit, filed by five Washington County couples. The development agreement calls for the NRD to spend $3.3 million to construct the dams. In recent years, NRD officials have turned to partnerships as a way to save money as the cost of land in the Papillion Creek watershed is pushed up by development pressure. Thompson said an important factor in the case was the City of Papillion's rejection of dry detention basins, which had earlier been proposed as a solution to capture runoff across the shopping center site at 72nd Street and Nebraska Highway 370. That rejection forced developers and the NRD to consider other flood control options, the judge said. Their solution, building dams along Midlands Creek, was one in which "all the parties gave a little bit," he said. Bill Allen, developer of the 430-acre Shadow Lake housing project at 72nd Street and Schram Road, said he was pleased by the order. "We've been confident from day one that the NRD was acting in accordance with the law," Allen said. During the trial, Allen's attorney suggested that the landowners sued to stop the Shadow Lake project in order to set a precedent preventing a proposed large lake project that would flood their land in Washington County. The same plaintiffs sued to stop a public-private dam project at 192nd and West Dodge Road. Kevin McManaman, an attorney representing the landowners, said he may comment on the ruling later. During the trial, Lee Becker, a former Nebraska state hydrologist hired by the landowners for $200 an hour as an expert witness, testified that the two dams help contain runoff from the developers' property. But Becker said the dams offer only "minimal" flood control after Midlands Creek goes under Nebraska Highway 370 and empties into the west branch of the Papillion Creek, Becker said. The project does nothing to control flooding on the West Branch of Midlands Creek, which joins with the main creek downstream of the dams, he said. Marlin Petermann, assistant general manager of the NRD, disagreed with Becker's conclusion. He said the dams would create 487 acre-feet of water storage and reduce the flow of floodwaters off the site by 25 percent. The Shadow Lake dams would provide flood control, improve water quality, control erosion and provide recreation, he said.