Lewis & Clark NRD approve fiscal year 2025 budget

The Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District Board of Directors approved the fiscal year 2025 budget with an increase in the overall expenses to $3,023,531.

The property tax requirement for the three-county area is $0.033227 per $100 of actual valuation, a five percent increase from fiscal year 2024. The Board is committed to protecting and conserving natural resources through responsible use of tax dollars.

The budget includes funding to maintain, update or construct flood and erosion control structures in watersheds of the district. The budget includes funding to continue providing conservation programs to landowners and farmers to implement practices on individual farms. LCNRD also monitors and implements programs address water quality and quantity within the district. Other programs carried out in LCNRD include Sealed Well Abandonment Program, Deep Soil Sampling program, Buer Strip Program, Habitat Program, Bow Creek Watershed Project, Bazile Groundwater Management Area, and Tree Planting Program. The board of directors is also setting aside funds to facilitate projects to benefit South Creek Watershed in Dixon County and/or Bazile Creek Watershed in Knox County. LCNRD partners with state and/or federal agencies for funding support to many of these programs.

LCNRD administers additional funding provided by the Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation Cost Share Program and utilizes grant funds from the Nebraska Environmental Trust, U.S. Geological Survey, Nebraska Dept of Natural Resources, and the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy to expand groundwater and surface water protection and to implement best management practices in the district.

The budget for LCNRD includes operating costs for the Cedar Knox Rural Water Project whose operating budget is $24,206,228, which includes funding to facilitate changing the surface water source for the system from Lewis and Clark Lake to a groundwater source provided by Yankton, S.D., and to update the distribution system to facilitate the source water change and to meet system demand. All budgeted expenses and bond payments of CKRWP are paid by the customers of the system.