Project Spotlight

2019 Flood Impacts on CSO Program Efforts

In mid-March 2019, significant rainfall and rapid snow melt impacted the Missouri River Watershed, resulting in historic flooding within the Missouri, Elkhorn and Platte River basins. This event has impacted the CSO Program projects in a variety of ways.

• Missouri River Water Resource Recovery Facility (MRWRRF) Improvements, Schedule B2 – Flood waters inundated the construction site and filled the new chlorine contact basin with river water. The extent of damage and extra time needed are being assessed. While water has receded, the damage is not completely known. 
• Burt-Izard Lift Station Improvements – High river levels delayed construction. Work has restarted and a revised construction schedule was approved.
• Deep Tunnel System Alignment Study (DTS) – Geotechnical borings within the critical zone of the levee were put on hold during flooding, but now work has restarted.

In addition, the Papillion Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility (PCWRRF) was significantly impacted. Levees adjacent to the PCWRRF were over-topped, power was lost and the facility was taken out of service. The facility was inoperable for several weeks, but now has restarted. The magnitude of the damage is being assessed, and it appears that costs will be significant.

The Program notified the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy that there will be impacts to staffing, project timelines and contractor availability. The notification does not request additional time to complete the Program, but alerts regulators of the impact and potential for disruption to complete the CSO Program. 

This flood event qualifies as a Force Majeure as defined in the City’s Consent Order. It states: 

A Force Majeure event is defined as any event arising from causes not reasonably foreseeable and beyond the control of the City or its consultants, engineers, or contractors which could not be overcome by due diligence and which delays or prevents performance as required by this Consent Order. 

_{First printed in the Omaha CSO Quarterly Report, 2019 Q2}