SC Nebraska News

The City of Hastings held the first meeting of its Lake Hastings Citizen Engagement Group Thursday afternoon, June 1 in the Hastings Utilities board room at North Denver Station, 1228 N. Denver Ave. 

Ten members participated in person and one by phone.

The Citizen Engagement Group is an offshoot of the Lake Hastings Water Quality public meeting held on April 6. Citizen Engagement Group members include residents of the Lake Hastings neighborhood as well as residents of the Hastings area at large who are passionate about retaining recreational opportunities at the 70-acre body of water. 

Buildup of sediment has left Lake Hastings much shallower than its designed depth of 8 feet. High concentrations of phosphorous and nitrogen have been found in the lake.

Lake Hastings was created in 1959 as a reservoir for water pumped from electricity-generating Unit 4 at North Denver Station and through the cooling tower, next to North Denver Station. Water from Unit 5, also at North Denver Station, is pumped to Heartwell Lake. 

Units 4 and 5 continue to run on a very occasional basis. 

Citizen Engagement Group members shared on June 1 their respective connection to and interest in Lake Hastings. Tara Ogren, outgoing civil engineer for the City of Hastings, described Citizen Engagement Group members as “citizen champions for the lake.” 

Establishing a Citizen Engagement Group is one of the first steps in creating a Water Quality Management Plan for Lake Hastings. 

The city is collaborating with the Upper Big Blue and Little Blue natural resources districts and JEO Consulting Group on the project. 

Ogren said the project recently received the $40,000 match from the Environmental Protection Agency to develop the Water Quality Management Plan. That amount is in addition to a $27,000 local match: $9,000 each from the City of Hastings and the two NRDs.

The City began working toward a restoration plan in 2020 after discovering the lake had been listed as impaired for aquatic life and aesthetics due to sedimentation since 2006 and 2010, respectively.  

One of the first steps that led to partnerships with the Upper Big Blue NRD and the Little Blue NRD was delineating the Lake Hastings 9-square-mile watershed which extends into both NRD districts. In January 2022, the City held a formal meeting with government stakeholders to better understand the lake restoration process and funding avenues.  

The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy worked with the City on developing a Quality Assurance Project Plan for water quality sampling in 2022.  Later in 2022, the NDEE provided guidance to the City and NRDs on a Water Quality Management Plan for Lake Hastings which would be needed before any lake restoration funding opportunities.  The UBBNRD, LBNRD, and City signed an interlocal agreement to share the 40% of costs for the development of a WQMP for the Lake Hastings watershed area. 

The Water Quality Management Plan would identify methods to improve the watershed and is a requirement to receive federal funding for larger, future actions such as potentially dredging the lake. 

Dredging could be done through mechanical or hydraulic methods. Dredging would return the lake to its design depth of 8 feet with pockets of 12-15 feet to facilitate fish habitat.

The Citizen Engagement Group is anticipated to meet again in the winter or spring, once the Water Quality Management Plan is completed. 

Future actions for the Citizen Engagement Group include developing a project mission statement, fact sheet and answers to frequently asked questions. 

For more information about the project, or to participate in the Lake Hastings Citizen Engagement Group email stormwater@cityofhastings.org.  

Original source can be found here.