LEWIS AND CLARK NRD FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET

The Lewis and Clark Natural Resources District (LCNRD) Board of Directors approved the fiscal year 2023 budget with a slight increase in the overall expenses to $1,984,284 and a decrease in the property tax requirement. With increased property valuations across the district’s three-county area, the tax levy of $0.026759 per $100 of actual valuation is a two percent decrease from the fiscal year 2022. The Board is committed to protecting and conserving natural resources through responsible use of tax dollars.

The budget includes funding to continue providing conservation programs to landowners and farmers to implement practices on individual farms. Some of the programs receiving funds in LCNRD include Sealed Well Abandonment Program, Deep Soil Sampling program, Buffer Strip Program, Habitat Program, Bow Creek Project, Bazile Creek Project, and Tree Planting Program. LCNRD also budgets for programs to address water quality and quantity within the district and funding is set aside for the maintenance of flood and erosion control structures in Cedar and Dixon Counties including the Aowa Creek Watershed. LCNRD utilizes state and/or federal funding to support 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 (CKRWP) whose operating budget increased to $10,034,272, which includes funding to facilitate changing the surface water source for the system from Lewis and Clark Lake to a groundwater source and to update the distribution system were needed to meet system demand. All budgeted expenses and bond payments of CKRWP are paid by the customers of the system.