FINAL STATEMENT PAPILLION CREEK AND TRIBUTARIES, NEBRASKA Prepared by U.S. ARMY ENGINEER DISTRICT, OMAHA, NEBRASKA November 1971 Papillion Creek and Tributaries, Nebraska ( ) Draft (X) Final Environmental Statement Responsible Office: U. S. Army Engineer District, Omaha, Nebraska 1. Name of Action: (X) Administrative ( ) Legislative 2. Description of Action: The recommended project consists of the construction of 20 lakes and the implementation of a floodplain management program, by local interests in accord with state laws, on the tributaries of the Papillion Creek basin. The structures will control drainage from 1*7/5 of the 1*02 square mile basin. The basin is located directly west and north of Metropolitan Omaha, Nebraska and is presently undergoing urbanization. 3. a. Environmental Impacts: The authorized plan would provide flood protection to all of the basin below the lakes, some 215 square miles. 1*,205 acres of lake surface would be created. 5,255 acres of land would be managed exclusively for wildlife benefits. The remaining 7,515 acres of publicly-owned project land would serve to maintain open space around project sites and for public use. Agricultural production would be lost from that portion of the 16,975 acres of project land which is arable. Forty-four stream miles of generally poor riparian wildlife habitat would be lost by lake construction and fill. b. Adverse Environmental Effects: Approximately 1*1* miles of riparian wildlife habitat would be eliminated. The loss of agricultural land would reduce farm production in the basin since there is no land available to replace it. The increased development expected around the lakes will lend to the degradation of the impounded waters. 1*. Alternatives: Floodplain zoning, channel improvements and levees, flood proofing and diversions. 5. Comments Received: Environmental Protection Agency City of Omaha Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Papio Watershed Board Wildlife Metropolitan Area Bureau of Outdoor Recreation Planning Agency Soil Conservation Service Nebraska Association of Soil and Nebraska Soil and Water Water Conservation Districts Conservation Commission Quality Environment Council Nebraska Game and Parks League of Women Voters Commission of Omaha Sarpy County Board of Commissioners 6. Draft statement to CEQ on 26 August 1971. Final statement to C E Q __ 2 9 NOV 1971___ . I. Project description. The Papillion Creek and Tributaries flood control project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-U83) in accordance with the Chief of Engineers recommendations in House Document No. 3^*9» 90th Congress, 2nd Sesssion. The recommended plan of development provides for the construction of a multiple-purpose system of 20 dams and lakes at locations throughout the Papillion Creek basin for providing flood control, recreation, fish and wildlife, and downstream water quality benefits. It is estimated that floodplain damage will be reduced approximately 87$. The lakes would provide a storage capacity of 217,780 acre-feet principally for controlling floods in the Metropolitan Omaha area. The sediment reserve zones, totaling 1+6,560 acre-feet, would be utilized to impound multiple-purpose pools. Table 1 lists the volumes, the surface acres, and the depths of each lake. The project would create l+,205 acres of lake surface, with individual lakes varying in size from 1+0 acres to 650 acres. 5,255 acres of land would be managed exclusively for wildlife benefits. The remaining 7,515 acres of land would be used for embankment and spillway construction, maintenance and operation facilities, recreational development, and preservation of open space around project sites. Water quality releases will be made from Sites 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 15, 18, and 20. Releases will be sufficient to maintain 3 cubic feet per second on the Little Papillion Creek at Irvington, Nebraska, 3 cubic feet per second on Big Papillion Creek above Washington-Douglas county line, and 3 cubic feet per second on the West Branch above Papillion, Nebraska. The combined drainage area of the project totals 186.6 square miles, approximately kl% of the basin. Drainage areas for individual sites vary in size from 2.0 square miles to 32.9 square miles. All dam embankments would be rolled earth filled structures equipped with service outlets and grassed earthen-cut emergency spillways. See plate 1 for project location. The project is currently in the preconstruction planning stage with a revised general design memorandum completed for all sites. A specific design memorandum is being prepared for each individual site. The benefit- cost ratio of this project is currently 3.0 to 1. II. Environmental setting without the -project. The Papillion Creek drainage basin lies in eastern Nebraska in Washington, Douglas and Sarpy Counties. The basin is Ul miles long, averages 12 miles i.. width, and covers approximately U02 square miles. TABLE 1 INDIVIDUAL LAKE DATA FOR MULTIPURPOSE POOL Site Vo lime Surface Acres Maximum Depth Acre-Feet Feet 1 6,000 600 26 2 5,500 1*75 29 3 5,500 650 25 1* 2,850 215 . 32 5 750 85 19 6 750 60 23 7 i*o o 1*0 2U 8 650 1*0 22 9 1*00 1*5 19 10 1,200 125 30 11 U.500 1*00 30 12 600 65 17 13 500 60 25 lU 650 70 27 15 U,220 3l*0 30 16 1 ,5 0 0 135 1*H 17 Not recommended Not recommended Not recommended 18 U . ^ O 320 1*0 19 . 1,100 115 21 20 3,650 285 31 21 900 80 33 The principal tributaries are the Big Papillion Creek, West Branch and Little Papillion Creek. The headwaters of Big Papillion Creek are approximately 1* miles northwest of Blair, Nebraska. The Little Papillion Creek Joins the Big Papillion Creek Just south of Omaha, Nebraska, to form Papillion Creek. The West Branch merges with this a short distance above Offutt Air Force Base. From there, Papillion Creek flows southeast and enters the Missouri River approximately 4 miles south of Bellevue, Nebraska. Physiographically, this region is known as the dissected till plains section of the Central Lowlands Province. The valleys slope in a generally southerly direction. Valley widths average about 1,000 to 1,500 feet in the upper reaches, extending to one mile in some areas in the lower basin. Surface soils axe largely loess derived mollisols and highly erodible. Deep, wide gullies form in many drainageways. Sheet erosion is a serious problem on the slopes. The streams are characterized by deeply-cut streambeds with steep sides. Many of these erosion problems have been accentuated by poor land management practices. The lower portion of the basin is in an urban setting composed of west Omaha, Ralston, Bellevue and Papillion. Intensive farming is practiced throughout the remainder of the basin. Less than 1# of the land area remains in native tree, grass and shrub cover. A significant portion of this fringes the drainageways and comprises most of the basin's wildlife habitat. Species of woody vegetation found in the basin include cottonwood, box elder, mulberry, willow, green ash, silver maple, American elm, walnut and cedar. Nettle., ragweed, chokecherry, gooseberry, honeysuckle, timothy, wild rye, brome, clover and foxtail number among the shrub and grass species found in the basin. Game birds and animals inhabiting the basin include whitetailed deer, bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits, fox squirrels and pheasants. Non-game species include fox, coyote, raccoon, mink, weasel, muskrat, opossum, skunk, and the common species of moles, shrews, ground squirrels, field mice, and rats. Common resident birds would include the yellow shafted flicker, downy woodpecker, bluejay, blackcapped chickadee, robin, cardinal and American goldfinch. Woody vegetation along the watershed attracts numerous species of warblers, orioles, sparrows, thrushs, hawks, and owls during spring and fall migrations. Numerous bird species such as the red-headed woodpecker, eastern phoebe, cardinal, catbird, robin, and brown thrasher would find habitat in the watershed suitable for nesting. Waterfowl are found occassionally in the basin, but rarely on any of the Papillion Creek tributaries. Although many species of birds are common to the basin, no rare, endangered or unique species of birds are known to inhabit the basin. The huntable game populations within the basin have been decreasing the past few years, principally due to decreasing habitat. During this same period the numbers of hunters have teen increasing; resulting in very heavy hunting pressuie. Hie posting of land by private owners to prohibit hunting has helped to reduce the hunting pressure and conserve existing game populations. Below Omaha, Papillion Creek and its tributaries are quite polluted. Zero dissolved oxygen concentrations and high colifonn populations are common. The water quality of the streams in the upper reaches of the basin is degraded during periods of precipitation when waters rich in nutrients and high in turbidity, BOD and coliform populations pour into the normally low flowing streams. Studies by the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency have shown that fecal coliform populations and 5 day BOD readings in the basin tributaries vary respectively from 600,000 - 6,000,000 MF/100 ml and 39-116 mg/1 in the lower portion of the basin to 400 - 1,900,OOOMF/lOO ml and 2-13 mg/1 in the extreme northern portion of the basin. There are feedlot facilities in the basin for over 65,000 cattle which contribute to the pollution of the basin. A large portion of the land in the basin is devoted to agricultural use. This also contributes pollutants in the form of insecticides, herbicides and which accumulate in the runoff. These conditions exist through­ out the basin and have helped to reduce the fishery to a small number of carp and bullheads. The City of Omaha has initiated a program which would considerably reduce the pollution in the lower Papillion Creek basin.