Rural Water

Poor water quality and availability of water has been a problem in some areas of the District. A solution to this problem has been addressed by the construction of two public water supply systems in the south-eastern section of the District. Connection information

Rules and Regulations

New Water Rates Effective September 1, 2015

Emergency Plan for Demand Reduction

Little Blue Public Water Project North

The Little Blue Public Water Project serves over 284 Domestic, livestock and business hookups in eastern Thayer County and west and central Jefferson Counties, including the villages of Gilead and Gladstone.  Water is purchased from the City of Fairbury and piped through over 120 miles of buried lines to provide quality water service (view map). Low water availability and poor water quality were serious issues facing the residents of the Little Blue NRD’s southeastern region.  Area residents had been exposed to poor water quality problems such as high nitrates, sodium, iron and sulfur with extreme hardness and odor present.  The need for a quality water source had become a major concern for the area. The Little Blue Public Water Project was completed in 1976 with the objective of supplying continuous, quality water service to residents of the area. The Project is financially self supporting and operates almost exclusively (96%) on water sales income from the customers.

Little Blue Public Water Project South

The Little Blue Public Water Project – South provides water service to over 145 customers, many of who are in the area south of Fairbury, NE as well as just across the border into central Kansas.

Water for this Project is also purchased from the City of Fairbury and distributed to provide quality water to residents of the area.

Construction of the Little Blue Public Water Project South was completed in 1999.  Funding for the Project was made available through a grant from USDA Rural Development Water 2000 initiative in the amount of $1,067,900, a loan in the amount of $873,800, $116,550 in user fees, $30,000 from the existing Little Blue NRD Water Project and a Kansas Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $220,000.

The Project consists of 110 miles of buried pipeline (view map), a newly erected 75,000 gallon water tower and 2 new booster stations.

The Rural Water Project is willing to accept new customers if they reside in rural areas of southeast Thayer or southwest Jefferson counties in Nebraska or northern Washington County in Kansas.   Please give the NRD office a call at (402)364-2145 if you would like more information.

Connection Information

****Currently the Project is unable to accept new connections. This is due to capacity issues of pumping equipment and limitations within the agreement between the Project and the city of Fairbury.****

Steps for adding a new connection to the Water Projects (if connections are taken in the future):

  • Contact the Little Blue NRD
  • Sign an easement for service to the line
  • Complete Water user Agreement which would include a connection fee of $1,500
  • Pay for the cost of installation of water lines to the new connection

The initial project construction is being repaid by the users of the project, any costs associated with connecting to the rural Water Project since the initial loan was taken are charged to the new consumer. Thereafter their monthly bill for water delivered helps defray the cost of the Project to which they are connected.

Contacts for the Rural Water Projects:

  • Kevin Orvis, Projects Manager (402) 364-2145
  • Bruce Dux, Water Project Superintendent (402) 300-0523
  • Paula Schultz, Billing (402) 729-6134 ext. 3