NRD To Add Additional Flood Control Feature
February 22, 2019 8:22PM CST
Fleming Fields, near 33rd and Leighton, will soon include a Dentention Basin. It has nothing to do with inmates or staying after school, however; The basin will be part of the NRD’s and City of Lincoln’s construction of the Deadmans Run Flood Reduction Project. It will hold water during periods of heavy rain that would otherwise flood the surrounding neighborhoods.
The NRD and the City are also partners with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in
the $25 million project that will remove approximately 500 homes and businesses,
just north of UNL’s East Campus, from the 100-year floodplain. The federal
government has committed $10 million toward the cost of the project, with the City
and LPSNRD splitting the remaining $15 million in cost. Completion is expected in
2022.
The basin will be designed to temporarily store up to 90 acre-feet of runoff. (An acre foot is enough to cover one acre in one foot of water.) The basin will hold extra runoff until the main channel of Dead Man’s Run drops to a certain level, then the basin will drain into the main channel.
The land for the basin is already owned by the City of Lincoln. Use of the basin area as athletic fields (soccer, rugby) will not change because of the project, except it will need to dry out after being utilized for detention. The basin will not include any of the existing softball complex.
