Omaha, Nebraska • Urban Infrastructure + Environmental Planning

• This project examines the Omaha Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Program, a long-term infrastructure initiative addressing the environmental and public-health impacts of the city's aging combined sewer system. Initiated in response to federal Clean Water Act requirements, the program seeks to substantially reduce untreated sewage and stormwater discharges into the Missouri River, Papillion Creek, and other local waterways.
• The analysis examines how Omaha combines traditional engineering infrastructure with green infrastructure and landscape-based strategies. Major interventions include sewer separation, underground storage, retention and treatment facilities, bioswales, rain gardens, wetland restoration, and improvements integrated into public landscapes such as Spring Lake Park.
• Beyond engineering performance, the study considers the program as an issue of urban planning, environmental justice, public finance, and community resilience. Ratepayer assistance, public engagement, workforce investment, neighborhood impacts, and the distribution of infrastructure costs and benefits demonstrate how large public-works programs extend beyond their technical systems.
• With investment extending across several decades, Omaha's CSO program illustrates the complexity of transforming legacy infrastructure while a city continues to function and grow.
• The project ultimately explores infrastructure as an urban system, demonstrating how water management, environmental restoration, public health, economics, governance, and community development intersect in the long-term planning of a city.