USDA NRCS Opportunity for Public Comment: Draft Watershed Plan for North Fork Elkhorn River

Sponsor: Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District

Project Location: Antelope, Cedar, Knox & Pierce Counties, Nebraska

Project Website: https://jeo.com/north-fork-wfpo/

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is soliciting comments on a draft Watershed Plan. The North Fork Elkhorn River Watershed Plan in Antelope, Cedar, Knox & Pierce Counties, Nebraska, developed in partnership with the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, analyzes measures for flood prevention (flood damage reduction) through the Pub. L. 83-566 Small Watershed Program’s authorized purpose of flood prevention. The preferred alternative in the plan includes construction of two diversion channels, stormwater pump stations, and levee improvements in and near the City of Pierce, along with a road raise, berm, and nonstructural improvements in and near the City of Osmond. The draft Watershed Plan and related documents are available below for review and comments from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, 2025:

• Draft Watershed Plan (PDF: 9,654 KB)
• Appendix A – Correspondence (PDF: 8,575 KB)
• Appendix B – Project Map (PDF: 1,878 KB)
• Appendix C Part 1 – Supporting Maps (PDF: 51.6 MB)
• Appendix C Part 2 – Supporting Maps (PDF: 10.1 MB)
• Appendix D – Investigations and Analysis (PDF: 7,306 KB)
• Appendix E Part 1 – Clean Water Act/Food Security Act analysis; Geotechnical Investigation Report; and Wetland Delineation Report (Pierce) (PDF: 49.9 MB)
• Appendix E Part 2 – Wetland Delineation Report (Pierce; continued) (PDF: 51.2 MB)
• Appendix E Part 3 – Wetland Delineation Report (Osmond); IPaC and CERT reports; Cultural Resource Inventory Report (redacted); Draft NHPA Section 106 Programmatic Agreement (PDF: 28.9  MB)
• Appendix F – Environmental Assessment (PDF: 678 KB)

In-person public meetings will be held on September 17th, 2025, at 3:30-5:00 p.m. at the Osmond City Auditorium (413 N. State Street, Osmond, NE 68765) and 6:00-7:30 p.m. at the Pierce County Fairgrounds Pavilion Building (622 N. Brown Street, Pierce, NE 68767). Staff from NRCS, Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District, and the project team will be available at the meeting to discuss the Watershed Plan and answer questions.  

You may request a copy of the Watershed Plan from or send written comments to: Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District; c/o Curt Becker; 1508 Square Turn Blvd, Norfolk, NE 68701. For more information, please contact Curt Becker, LENRD Assistant General Manager at 402-371-7313 or cbecker@lenrd.org. 

All comments received, including the names and addresses of those people who comment, will be part of the public record and will be released for public review as required and allowed by law. Comments, information, and analyses provided should be as specific as possible and an explanation of why the information is important to the analysis should be included.

More Information

To learn more about NRCS programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center.  Producers can also apply for NRCS programs, manage conservation plans and contracts, and view and print conservation maps by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today.