Lower Platte Environmental Sustainability Assessment
The Lower Platte Environmental Sustainability Assessment is a multiphase effort that will develop a planning framework for responsible, consistent and sustainable development in the Lower Platte River Corridor.
This effort involves assembling enviromental and natural resource related information and using it to develop tools to assist decision makers. These tools will help identify environmental constraints and opportunities when making land use decisions.
Project Timeline
Phase I consisted of Data Identification, Collection, Evaluation, and Organization and was completed on March 2006.
The information that was gathered is being analyzed and mapped to create a coordinated, corridor-wide assessment evaluating issues such as land use, natural resources, environmental constraints, water supply/wastewater management, and infrastructure.
Phase II covers the area from Fremont to the Lower Platte River's confluence with the Missouri River. The purpose of this phase was to:
- assess existing natural resources and environmental features
- identify environmental constraints and opportunities relative to areas of growth suitability
- provide key decision making criteria for land use decisions
As part of this phase, local planning jurisdictions, environmental resource managers, utility companies, and aggregate mining companies were surveyed to gather input and identify environmental features that affect their specific land use planning and decisions. This phase was completed in August 2008.
Currently, the project is in Phase III. The same activities that occurred in Phase II are being repeated for an area from Columbus to Fremont.
In addition, a land suitability assessment model is being developed in this Phase. This model(s) provide an analysis to determine the suitability for various types of land use including recreation, development, water quality or supply, wildlife or conservation areas, agriculture, and mining.
Map Site
Map data that has been collected for the ESA will be available via the NRD MapMaker system in summer 2009. Please check back then!