Beal Slough

The addition of much concrete and many rooftops in the watershed over the last twenty years has made south Lincoln's Beal Slough a major collector of stormwater runoff, along with five other waterways from various parts of the city that all empty into the city's single outlet stream, Salt Creek. Fortunately, over the last twenty years urban planners have realized plants can be just as effective as concrete in keeping stream banks from eroding, and that, along with other new bank stabilization and detention concepts has come to be showcased by the NRD along Beal Slough.

In 1997 the NRD began an experimental bioengineering project along a short stretch of Beal Slough, from 40th Street west to Highway 2. The idea was to use seeded turf reinforcement matting and other materials, which were new at the time, to attractively stabilize the badly eroding stream bank. The matting was used both alone and in combination with other materials. The photo progression below shows the project at various stages over a 16-month period.

Not only did the newer methods result in a more beautiful channel, they increased the channel's capacity. Since then, other segments of Beal Slough have been targeted for bank stabilization and each time the project utilized the newest methods. The segment from 40th Street east to 48th, besides getting the bank reinforcements needed due to higher flows caused by urbanization, also became a key stretch for timing when peak flows would reach Salt Creek during a storm event. Such timing is a critical element in city-wide flood management.

Rock Riffles like this one help decrease the flow rate. Beal Slough falls 10 feet from 48th to 40th Street. Eventually, these riffles will silt-in and allow water to pool, creating more storage.

It is the NRD's goal to deal with erosion problems without changing the course of the channel and to detain stormwater runoff so it stays within Beal Slough's newly-shaped banks and out of neighborhoods and businesses.