A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for northeastern Sarpy County in Nebraska and central Pottawattamie and northwestern Mills counties in Iowa until 4:30 p.m. A tornado watch is in effect until 10 p.m. Sunday for southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa, including Omaha, Council Bluffs and Lincoln.
Big Creek Lake is more than six feet low and is continuing to fall at a rate of six inches per week which has been causing headaches to anglers trying to launch a boat, but has been beneficial to the construction crews installing new boat ramps.
The drought has allowed contractors to pour the pads in place, rather than pour a slab on shore, build a ramp and then use a bulldozer and push it in to place like during a normal year.
During construction, only the one lane east boat ramp has been available.
“In a matter of weeks, we likely won’t have any usable boat ramps because the water level will be far enough below the end of the ramp, that they will be backing on to the lake bed and get stuck,” said Chad Kelchen, manager at Big Creek State Park.
The low water level has raised another issue: an exposed six-inch water main that serves the state park and some private residents in the area.
The water main is normally under about nine feet of water, but as the water level continues to drop it could be damaged by boat traffic. The DNR has closed the channel leading to Lost Lake and the Big Creek spillway to boat traffic to protect the water main.
For more information contact Chad Kelchen, Manager, Big Creek State Park, 515-571-7119.
