Maximizing Nebraska's Resources
Spanning our state - Missouri River to panhandle - Nebraska’s Third District has been blessed with a breadth of natural resources. Although much of our state is naturally arid, generations of hard work, determination, and feats of engineering have maximized our resources to provide for local needs, feed the world, and minimize flooding risks. In order to help our state maximize the benefits of our many resources, I take my role in natural resource policy seriously, whether through empowering local management, providing oversight of federal involvement, or supporting projects, and I have worked on several major issues facing Nebraska over the past few years.
In June, I joined a celebration at the Good Life Marina in Trenton recognizing our success in enacting legislation to transition management of communities at the Swanson and Hugh Butler Reservoirs from the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to Hitchcock and Red Willow Counties. Land adjacent to these lakes had been in limbo since management of the properties was transitioned from Nebraska Game and Parks back to BOR. Without action, BOR was expected to shut down longstanding lake communities which families had been utilizing for generations. Last year, I worked with Senator Fischer to introduce and pass legislation to transfer this land from the federal government to the local counties to ensure recreational access continues and visitors will continue patronizing businesses in those communities.
Another resource issue Nebraskans encountered, on the eastern edge of our state, was a Missouri River levy which was washed out by flooding in 2019. Because of local issues with maintaining the levy, it had become uncompliant with standards for continued maintenance by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), rendering a sizeable amount of land near Peru underwater and unusable. In order to address this issue, I worked to include language in a 2020 water management bill which allowed the Peru community to work toward compliance for the levy. The USACE subsequently made an initial round of repairs to the levy, and last month they announced the awarding of a contract to address ongoing issues with gaps in the levy.
Out west, also in 2019, a tunnel on the Gering-Fort Laramie Canal collapsed, halting irrigation for more than 100,000 acres in Wyoming and Nebraska. The collapse of the 102-year-old tunnel, which occurred 110 feet below ground, required costly initial repairs to restore access to water and brought to the forefront the need to modernize the century-old system for future generations. Since the initial collapse, I have worked closely with local leaders, Bureau of Reclamation officials, and my colleagues who work on the House Appropriations Committee to ensure BOR will support this work. These efforts ensured water access would resume after preliminary tunnel repairs, and in October the Gering-Fort Laramie District held a groundbreaking in Wyoming for their full modernization project.
Wins like these are not a one-person job, and I am grateful to be able to help when communities have brought forward major issues over the years. Our senators have also been great partners working together on many of these challenges. While there is always more work to be done, I am encouraged by the outcomes we’ve achieved and the partnerships which continue to move Nebraska forward. If you or your community are facing challenges with federal land and water resources, my office is here to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out—I am ready to assist and honored to serve you every step of the way.