The 1,250-acre Thompson Creek Watershed Restoration is located almost entirely within the City limits of the City of La Vista.It is a significant natural resource in the City, with signature parks and proximity to City Hall.It is an urban watershed, largely residential, but with several large commercial areas.It flows east for 2 miles to a channelized section of Big Papillion Creek.
Thompson Creek experiences typical urban issues/ stressors:
- Frequent and significant water level changes resulting from even small storms due to engineered collection and conveyance of stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces;
- Deeply-incised channel (7 to 15 ft in areas) experiencing severe bed and bank erosion from volatile flow rates, lack of floodplain storage below a detention basin, and lack of dense-rooting herbaceous vegetation on steep stream banks;
- Flooding of park areas with larger storm events that reduces usable areas.
- High phosphorus loading, eutrophication and algae blooms due to direct input of untreated stormwater runoff from residential and commercial areas, parking lots and streets;
- Poor in-stream aquatic life due to lack of riffle-run features and high frequency of bed and bank scouring events; and
- Infrastructure and public and private property damage due to the unstable flow regime of the stream.
- The Thompson Creek Watershed Restoration extends from the western headwaters at approximately 90th Street to 66th Street near the Big Papillion Creek.The project addresses the issues and stressors through a holistic, sustainable design, building on past efforts and investments.