Luke Peterson Lower Platte South NRD Director, Subdistrict 7

08/29/2026

This is the first segment of the Deadman’s Run Flood Reduction Project. It’s 1 of 2 water retention basins (reservoirs) that your Lower Platte South Natural Resources District is constructing to ensure that over 300 homes and buildings in Northeast Lincoln are safe from a catastrophic 100 year flood surge. Very important and extremely honored to carry this out for my late colleague, Mike DeKalb. He championed this initiative and I am proud to see this though. Our recently approved budget for the upcoming fiscal year is heavily invested by this project and as I have mentioned, it’s vital for the residents of Northeast Lincoln! It will, once finished, ensure that these homeowners don’t have to purchase flood insurance policies-creating savings for themselves and hopefully passing along some generational wealth to their families.

This is right by Lincoln Lutheran, not far from one of my favorite bike trails, the Mo-Pac.

08/08/2026

I know many of my constituents and residents are hitting me up about data centers and water usage. While I am listening to there concerns and taking notes about potential solutions-I wanted to share a project that is in the works for both the NRD and the City of Lincoln. It involves my favorite topic, bike trails. This is the end of the line for the trail that goes through Wilderness Park but on the west side of Salt Creek. Behind me is Highway 77 and the other pic is the recently re-done bridge near the Rock Island train wreck site. If you go past Highway 77, you will find Warhorse Casino. Very excited to see the trail to extend pass under Highway 77 and to the casino and subsequent neighborhoods. No idea when, but it is in the Long Range Implementation Plan for the Lower Platte South NRD and the City of Lincoln is also in favor of the connectivity! I would urge you to call the Governor’s office and tell him to support Bike Trail development. It is an economic opportunity and a wellbeing investment for all!

07/20/2026

It would be nice if the City County Planning Commission were to stipulate conditions for consideration over Monolith. Such as building designs that capture, collect and store rainwater. Retention ponds that do the same thing for large parking lots. Lastly a pump system that drains this excess, free water from such ponds and large containments off of buildings and integrates such water for the use of their operations-to offset their needs of pumping groundwater. Many families in Lincoln and Lancaster County are doing this already to their homes and properties. Why can’t we ask corporations to do the same? If the City County Planning Commission doesn’t stipulate to Monolith over this, I’m prepared to explore such proposals to attach to their well permit.

The carbon black production company filed a request for a text amendment to Hallam's village code and a site approval by the planning commission for a data center.

07/17/2026

My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones for Adrian Paris. This isn’t the news I want to hear as a Board member of the NRD about one of the many properties we are responsible to manage on behalf of the public, let alone simply as a neighbor. I live, roughly, just shy of a mile away from this location. As an avid cyclist, I go through this area frequently. Saddens me greatly to think about how our neighbor and loved one passed. I hope the memories of Adrian are a blessing to those who know him. I am grateful for the Lincoln Police Department and their investigative team for their work and diligence to keep our community we love and call home safe. Again my thoughts are with the family and loved ones for their loss. May the sun greet you all with joy today, even when there are tears in your eyes. I know how difficult that is but the memories will always carry one through. 😢

Authorities have identified the body found in a storm drain in Lincoln Thursday morning.

07/10/2026

I’ve heard the rumor that Monolith was considering a side business venture of going into the “Data Center” industry earlier this year. It is an abandonment from their original business plan that was used to base off their water well permit submitted to the Lower Platte South NRD. I won’t speak on behalf of the other board members but I would like to remind them, and the public, that their industrial well permit granted by us has a review condition which we as a board fought hard to agree upon. I’m looking forward to such a review of their well permit and will press the questions that the voters of “lucky subdistrict 7” have asked me about Monolith & data centers in general.

If there’s any specific question you want to ask, my email address is:
[email protected]

(Ask me politely for a phone call in your email, please. Be thoughtful, not thoughtless. Because I won’t tolerate disrespectful behavior, comments or language. We can be civil adults.)

Big news out of Lancaster County: Monolith is looking at building a data center near Hallam, and the first phase could be filed as soon as mid-July. The company says the plan would have less impact than the larger facility it once considered—think lower traffic and reduced water use.

Full story >> https://www.1011now.com/2026/07/10/monolith-seeks-build-data-center-hallam-application-be-submitted-by-mid-july/

06/18/2026

Hey Friends! Bike Walk Nebraska has this survey out that’s asking for your opinion!!! Please fill it out and share with your friends, neighbors, colleagues and loved ones! The survey closes on June 21st!

Bike Walk Nebraska cultivates and supports safe and accessible active transportation across our state by leading sound policy and advocating for best practices.

06/05/2026

There’s been a lot of conversation about the data center being constructed by Google near N. 56th and Interstate 80. I want to have the record be accurately described from the standpoint as a member of the Lower Platte South NRD.

Last Winter, perhaps last Fall, the Board agreed to forgo some easements owned by the NRD to help with the construction of said pipeline meant to carry discharge water from the data center to the wastewater treatment facility. That was a Board decision that I supported. To date, no other action has been taken on or towards the Google data center. No well-water permit has been granted because the City of Lincoln (a.k.a. The Mayor’s Office) has agreed to Google that the data center can tap into existing water supply and infrastructure for the development. The Planning Commission has been asked to mandate that the developers utilize retaining water systems (reuse pits, water siphons and other capture systems) to help offset the amount of water needed for the data center. No promises made nor even an acknowledgment that it’s a consideration.

The Lower Platte South NRD is not in the business of development nor is the arbiter of development. We’re simply the gatekeepers of groundwater and other natural resources. As a Board Member for the LPSNRD, it’s my duty to ensure that our natural resources are wisely and dutifully allocated so that future generations can enjoy and benefit from what we have been blessed with.

A Google subsidiary is funding a $10 million wastewater project in northeast Lincoln to pipe non-contact cooling water from the company’s data center to the Northeast Water Resource Recovery Facility, where it will be tested, dechlorinated and then discharged into Salt Creek, city officials say.

Full Story: https://www.1011now.com/2026/06/04/construction-begins-10-million-wastewater-line-transport-cooling-water-lincoln-data-center-recovery-site/