Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1986)
"DeWitt is grabbing all the publicity and, if you have noticed, they don't give a damn who they hurt up here," Zabel said. But the DeWitt folks are unaffected by such comments. To them, the watershed has been tx long in coming and, frankly, they feel as if they deserve a break. It may have come even earlier if residents would have organized earlier, Pieper said. Having a third flood in three years was just the movivation the people needed, he said. After the 1986 flood, an action committee was formed in an effort to accelerate the Swan Creek Watershed. Steve Klostermeier, owner of the DeWitt Amoco gas station, formed the committee after someone asked him if DeWitt could sue the federal government in a class-action suit for not finishing the watershed. Klostermeir, who said he had been thinking the same thing, decided to call a public meeting on the subject. More than 200 people showed up. "You gotta realize Swan Creek is a little unique among all the watersheds in the state," he said. "We're the only one that has a town directly affected by it." shortfall and that purse strings are being tightened. To help raise more money, the Lower Big Blue NRD's board of directors will place a referendum on the November general election ballot that would allow the district to increase it maximum levy by 1 12 cents per $100 evaluation. "On a $50,000 valuation, you are talking about an increase in taxes of only $8.20 per year," Klostermeier said. Although the money won't be available until 1988, it is an investment, Fleecs said. For every $ 175,000 of taxes raised to accelerate the project over the next four years, it will provide $940,000 in, annual benefits, in the form of reduced damage to crops, pastures, towns and roads. "Now that's a pretty good return on the money," he said. The committee backs the tax increase 100 percent but Klostermeier said they know it's going to hurt some landowners. Glenn Pieper said the increase will cost him the equivalent of a case of beer a year. But a good friend of his, who owns a lot of land, will pay about $600 more in taxes. 'Every time it rains, my kids look at me . : and ask 'Is it gonna flood ton hp ora-rnnts ornun nf ahniir OA mm fj pjand woman have spent the last few months trying to make up for lost time. Buttons saying "1 Priority Swan Creek Watershed" have been distributed . around town, examples of how to write congress men have been mailed out and some residents have even started lobbying their state senators. They found legislative voice in state Sens. Pat Morehead of Beatrice and Don Eret of Dorchester. The fiesty silver-haired Morehead was Swan Creek's driving force in last year's assembly and successfully led an override of Kerrey's $200,000 veto. She and Eret both testified before the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission Sept. 11, and helped persuade the commission to unanimously earmark the Swan Creek Watershed as its highest priority. That is, if additional funding can be made available. Despite her determination to help DeWitt citizens win this battle, Morehead is realistic. She knows the 1987 Legislature is facing a budget "We have come a long way, buy we have a tough road yet to go," Morehead said For now, the committee is focusing its attention on the state. The watershed still needs to get the financial backing from the state at the next legislative session to help secure the project's completion. The two sites currently under con struction should be finished by spring 1987, Fleecs said, if weather permits. There is even still more work to be done acquiring land rights, he said. Several plots of land in the path of the watershed are owned by people who live outside the state, and they can be a little tougher to convince of the project's importance, Fleecs said. The winter months have brought a sense of relief around DeWitt, but Pieper said once spring returns, so will the fear of another flood. "Every time it rains, my kids look at me and ask, 'Is it gonna flood tonight, dad?' And I tell them things will get better . . . they tiave to." This story was written in conjunction with the Col lege of Journalism's depth reporting class, taught by Al Pagel, Gannett professional lecturer.
