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Nebraska Department of Natural Resources Program Assistance Division

Division Publications

Mission Statement

The Program Assistance Division of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources assists in or conducts state level planning work, provides assistance to other governmental units, provides statewide mapping and geographic information system analysis, provides a variety of technical assistance to the Director, coordinates Department's stream gaging efforts, and coordinates agency public information and webpage functions. The Division's duties and projects span a wide variety of topics and do not have a single discrete theme. Changing needs can also result in significant changes in many of the Division's projects and activities through time. Some of the current Division projects and duties include the following items.

Program Assistance Division Activities

Technical Assistance to the Director

Program Assistance Division staff provide technical assistance to the Director as directed including grants administration, contract administration, and assistance on Missouri River Activities.

Mapping/Geographic Information System Activities

These activities are generally cooperative efforts with other divisions or agencies and include the national hydrographic dataset, digital mapping of soils, floodprone area mapping, assistance in water rights mapping, and other mapping or geographic system analysis.

The Division led state efforts in compiling data for the national hydrographic dataset digital mapping project and is now responsible for stewardship of the dataset. The 1:24,000 National Hydrographic Dataset (NHD) presents water features at the same scale as other state digital mapping packages and provides the basis for enhancing the efficiency of a wide range of potential water analysis and administration activities. These include uses such as surface water quality assessment, bridge design, and water rights administration. Work on the National Hydrographic Dataset is being carried out on a cooperative basis with the U.S. Geological Survey and completion of the dataset occurred in 2007. The Nebraska GIS Steering Committee has prioritized this database and it is one of the select few databases that provide the underlying framework for coordinated GIS development and widespread data sharing and integration. The Division’s stewardship activities will include improvement of the dataset and efforts to help utilize it more effectively. Some of those uses involve in-agency efforts such as surface water modeling, water administration, and floodplain mapping activity.

State Level Planning Studies/ Technical Assistance/ Reviews

The Program Assistance Division participates in planning oriented studies, conducts reviews of projects and programs, and drafts information and responds to a variety of requests as needed. The Division also coordinates state level planning efforts and writing of the Annual Report and Plan of Work for the Nebraska State Water Planning & Review Process. The Integrated Water Management Division is responsible for implementation of the DNR portion of individual integrated management plans. The basin level planning in those plans provides the organizational focus for future State Water Planning efforts.

Finally, Division staff provide reviews on a variety of natural resources projects and the economic and technical committees for the Nebraska Resources Development Fund. Division staff also work on agency database maintenance.

 

Public Information

The Division is currently responsible for agency public information and website functions.

Hydrographic Report and Station List

Annual Report and Plan of Work for the State Water Planning and Review Process

Water Use Reports

Carbon Sequestration Report

Nitrate and Small Community Water Supply Report