TFG led a successful funding effort with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Program, helping to secure a grant award under the Drought Response Program, and later aiding in the development of a Drought Contingency Plan. This grant effort involved the coordination of multiple project participants, including the State of Nebraska’s Department of Natural Resources, three Natural Resources Districts (NRDs), and the two largest municipal water utility entities in the State (Lincoln Water System and Metropolitan Utilities District). These organizations, collectively working under an Inter-local Cooperative Agreement (ILCA) resulting in the creation of the Lower Platte River Consortium (Consortium), sought WaterSMART funding to address critical drought risks within the lower portion of the Platte River.
This lower part of the Platte includes a large portion of the State’s population as well as some of the highest-value irrigated farmland in the region. TFG worked closely with Reclamation staff to ensure that the grant application met all of the rigorous federal guidelines and requirements, while also addressing the specific needs and objectives of the Consortium sponsor. Because of the well-constructed grant application, submitted in April of 2016, and the subsequent hard work done by the project sponsors, assisted by TFG, the Consortium was able to develop a subsequent plan that was submitted to and approved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 2019. Within the plan, TFG helped evaluate different alternative management strategies using a new planning tool known as the Lower Platte River Consortium Conveyance Tool (CONSORV). Constructed by TFG in consultation with Consortium staff, the CONSORV tool is a surface water model built on the Stella modeling platform developed by iSEE Systems. CONSORV brought full-circle the efforts of TFG in helping the Consortium achieve its management goals, from initial grant application submittal to ultimate development of innovative management responses as outlined in an approved Drought Contingency Plan.