Omaha CSO

In June 2021, Nebraska Game and Parks restocked Fontenelle Lagoon and Hanscom Park pond for catch and release fishing.

Green Infrastructure

The City, through its Clean Solutions for Omaha Program, has been committed to multi-faceted solutions including green infrastructure. Together with the Omaha Stormwater Program, the City implements best practices to reduce stormwater pollution and impacts on the wastewater system. Omaha’s Stormwater Program is focused on eliminating prohibited non-stormwater discharges through a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) municipal stormwater discharge permit. Working in tandem, the two programs improve Omaha’s water quality.

To learn more, visit the Omaha's Stormwater Program website.

_{In June 2021, Nebraska Game and Parks restocked Fontenelle Lagoon and Hanscom Park and for catch and release fishing. Three hundred hybrid bluegill and green sunfish were stocked at each location. In addition to helping meet Program goals, green infrastructure projects revitalized parks that serve as a community amenity featuring wildlife and outdoor recreation.}

Program & Project Videos

Green Infrastructure Brochure

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In Omaha and many other cities, combined sewer overflows are a major cause of water pollution. When it rains, stormwater drains from roofs, street inlets, storm sewers and other engineered collection systems. Eventually, it finds its way into the combined sewer system, which collects both stormwater and sewage. When the flows into the combined system become more than the pipes or the treatment system can handle, it overflows into the Missouri River and other nearby streams. These overflows contain raw sewage, trash, bacteria, heavy metals and other pollutants that impact water quality.

The City of Omaha is committed to reducing combined sewer overflows and their impact on the Missouri River and area streams. The City has a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) that carefully lays out a series of Clean Solutions for Omaha (CSO) projects to address water quality concerns. All CSO projects are required to evaluate the inclusion of green infrastructure elements where possible.

Green infrastructure helps reduce overflows, often reduces cost and provides neighborhood amenities. Green infrastructure is a water management approach that protects, restores or mimics the natural water cycle. Green infrastructure is often soil- or vegetation-based and can include tree planting and preservation, installing porous pavements, and restoring natural landscapes.

These examples show how Omaha has effectively implemented green infrastructure projects in the CSO Program.

42nd & Q Street Sewer Separation Project

As part of the sewer separation design, new bioretention ponds were constructed in the eastern portion of Hitchcock Park. Bioretention ponds—both beautiful and functional enhancements to nature—are shallow areas that capture and store stormwater runoff. Vegetation was planted in the pond areas to help slow and filter stormwater runoff before it flows back into the newly separated storm system.

Aksarben Village Neighborhood Sewer Separation Project & Elmwood Park

Elmwood Park provided an excellent location for structures called slotted weirs, which were built through the park’s ravine to reduce stormwater velocity and erosion. The weirs act like terracing, with bioretention gardens located between the vertical drops, to slow the stormwater. Native grasses were planted in the gardens to provide superior natural water absorption. This strategy took stormwater out of the combined sewer system and diverted it to a natural stream. Not only did it improve water quality, it avoided additional costly sewer separation and neighborhood disturbance in the Aksarben Village CSO Project. This green infrastructure project saved more than $500,000 in overall cost.

Gilmore Avenue Sewer Separation, Phase 1 and 2 Project

In addition to providing sewer separation to an approximately 226-acre area in the Ohern/Monroe Basin and conveyance of a perennial creek flow, green infrastructure was incorporated in Albright Park, and facilitated the construction of new soccer fields for the neighborhood. The project also incorporated green infrastructure with a detention basin at Harrison Street offering another amenity to neighborhood residents.

Hanscom Park Green Infrastructure Project

This project features green infrastructure solutions to better manage stormwater runoff and increase rainwater infiltration within the park’s natural areas. In addition, improvements were made to the Hanscom Park Lagoon to control flows from the lagoon that discharge to the existing combined sewer. These modifications reduce the magnitude, frequency and duration of combined sewer overflows into the Missouri River and contribute to overall water quality improvements.

John Creighton Boulevard (JCB) Stormwater Conveyance Sewer Project & Adams Park Project

An outgrowth of the North Omaha Villages Revitalization Plan, this project renewed focus on Adams Park and other areas in the community as a catalyst for urban growth and revitalization. The park’s wetlands and detention area were designed to provide maximum practical stormwater storage to reduce combined sewer overflows, while adding community benefits and beautification elements to the park.

Lake James to Fontenelle Park Project

As part of the Lake James to Fontenelle Project, what used to be a little-used golf course is now a sprawling park with walking trails and picnic areas. The park’s lagoon was expanded and deepened, creating changes that naturally collect stormwater, keeping it from getting into the combined sewer and causing overflows to the river. Native vegetation was planted to increase filtration of rainfall into the ground.

Miller Park to Pershing Detention Basin Sewer Separation Project

A bioswale was constructed in Miller Park to help slow, filter and direct stormwater as it flows through the Pershing Basin to the Missouri River.

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Missouri Avenue Sewer Separation / Spring Lake Park Project

In the late 1800s, Spring Lake Park was a thriving urban park. In the early 1900s, the lake was drained and became a dumping ground for trash, old appliances and tires. A vocal group of community advocates tried for years to bring the “lake” back to Spring Lake Park. The CSO Program, which had included construction of a lake in the original 2009 Long Term Control Plan, collaborated with the neighborhood to address its aspirations. As planning and design for the Missouri Avenue/ Spring Lake Park CSO project developed, the beautification of a neighborhood evolved along with a major water quality improvement project. Through the CSO Program, grants from Nebraska Environmental trust and collaboration with Omaha’s Park Department, the lake, wetlands and a broad range of green elements transformed the area. The incorporation of green infrastructure elements expanded the park’s habitat, fishing and enjoyment, while leading to improved water quality. The project reduced the amount of gray infrastructure and resulted in a savings of $5 million.

Saddle Creek Area – 55th to 64th Avenue Sewer Separation

This project included green infrastructure designed to reduce peak flow runoff and provide wetland areas to create a natural stream channel. These green infrastructure features were jointly funded with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District and the Nebraska Environmental Trust.

Vinton Street Green Infrastructure Project

As a part of the green infrastructure project implementation, the Vinton Street Green Infrastructure Project assists in the control of stormwater entering the existing combined sewer system, which in turn helps reduce CSO volume in the overall City sewer system.

Omaha CSO

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Green Infrastructure