October 2024 - Papio NRD

Drinking Water Notice for Thurston County Rural Water System

UPDATE: 11/7/24

The drinking water notice issued by the Village of Pender and the Papio NRD for customers of the Thurston County Rural Water System has been lifted. The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy confirms testing for the amount of nitrates in the drinking water is below the regulatory standard and the water is safe for all customers to drink.

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UPDATE: 11/5/24

While the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy confirmed on Friday that testing for nitrates in drinking water for the Thurston Rural Water County System indicates the amount of nitrates is now below the regulatory standard (safe to drink), the drinking water notice CANNOT be lifted until after a mandatory 7 day waiting period.

Please continue to follow the notice until the all-clear is given, which we hope will be this Friday (8th).

We will keep you posted. Thank you.

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Following a drinking water notice issued by the Village of Pender, the Papio NRD has also issued a drinking water notice for customers of the Thurston Rural Water System until testing confirms safe nitrate levels.

Adults and children older than six months can drink the tap water. Do NOT allow infants, pregnant women, or nursing mothers to drink the water. Also, do NOT boil the water.

The Papio NRD is providing bottled water for system customers at the Village of Pender Office at 614 Main Street.

Customers can find more detailed information here regarding what they should and shouldn’t do until the notice is lifted.

The Papio NRD and Village of Pender are working with the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and will update customers on the status of the testing process and when the notice has been lifted.

For more information, please contact Lowell Roeber at 712-253-9014.

River Access Parks to Close Friday for Season

The Papio NRD will close all river access parks to the Elkhorn and Platte rivers for the season on November 1st.

The access sites include Elkhorn Crossing, Graske Crossing, West Maple Road, and Platte River Landing.

The access sites will reopen April 1^st, 2025.

Water Boil Notice for Dakota County Rural Water

UPDATE: 10/29/24

Both the Papio NRD and City of Dakota City have lifted the drinking water boil notice for the Dakota County Rural Water System. Test results indicate the water is safe to drink. Customers no longer need to boil their drinking water.

UPDATE: 10/28/24

Dakota County Rural Water Systems customers are still under a water boil notice. Our crews continue to conduct testing. Once we receive the test results, we let you know when the boil notice has been lifted via the news media, our social media, and website. In the meantime, please continue to boil your drinking water for at least three minutes.

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Drinking Water Boil Notice Issued for Dakota County Rural Water

Customers Need to Boil Water for Three Minutes Before Using

Following a drinking water boil notice issued by the City of Dakota City, the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (Papio NRD) has also issued a boil water notice for customers of the Dakota County Rural Water System. The notice instructs customers to boil their water for at least three minutes before drinking it.

A water main break that feeds the water tower for Dakota County Rural Water resulted in a loss of pressure in the Dakota City distribution system. This may cause backpressure, backsiphonage, or a net movement of water from outside the pipe to the inside through cracks, breaks, or joints in the distribution system that are common in all water systems.

Such a system failure carries with it a potential that fecal contamination or other disease-causing organisms could enter the distribution system. These conditions may pose an imminent and substantial health endangerment to persons served by the system.

What Should I Do?

Until further notice:

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST.

Bring all water to a rolling boil for at least three minutes, let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.
Use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice.
Discard all stored water, drinks or ice made recently from this water supply.

Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites which can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems.

The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. People at increased risk should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.

Due to the large number of customers, the Papio NRD will inform users when the water boil notice is lifted via the news media, social media, and our website.

Papio NRD Hosts North East Land Judging Competition

More than 600 high school students from 30 area schools competed in the Northeast Area Land Judging Competition on Wednesday, October 2^nd, in Blair, Nebraska, to test their knowledge of soil structure and land evaluation.

The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (Papio NRD) hosted the annual competition on an acreage in Blair where students assessed physical features of the soil, such as texture, permeability, thickness, wetness, slope, erosion, depth, and organic matter.

Land judging enables participants to learn how to recognize the physical attributes of soil, determine land capability for crop production, and evaluate management practices needed for proper stewardship.

Eight teams (West Point, Norfolk, Wisner-Pilger, Lyons-Decatur Northeast, Tekamah-Herman, Pierce, Oakland Craig, and North Bend) and one individual, Aubree Schlueter of Logan View, advance to the state land judging competition in Norfolk, Nebraska, on October 16^th, 2024.

The competition was sponsored by the Papio NRD in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

New Director Fills Vacancy on Papio NRD Board

Zachary Irvine takes the oath of office.

The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District Board of Directors has selected a new Director to fill the board’s Subdistrict 10 vacancy.

The Board appointed Zachary Irvine, a Lead Systems Engineer at the MITRE Corporation. Irvine is also a retired lieutenant colonel with more than 22 years of military leadership.

Irvine will officially participate in his first board meeting on November 14^th. He replaces Kevyn Sopinski, who resigned in August.