The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska has opened the Umóⁿhoⁿ Ní Waxúbe — Omaha Sacred Water Treatment Facility, Ní Ti, an $8.5 million plant that quadruples water storage capacity, according to utility director Jerry Henscheid.
The facility came online Oct. 6 on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska, replacing a plant built in 1980 that had operated for more than four decades with limited storage and a failing filtration system. The project was funded with $6 million from Indian Health Service and $2.5 million from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Henscheid, the tribe’s water operator and utility director, said the need for a replacement had been clear for years as the old plant’s filter continued to deteriorate.
“Our old plant was built in 1980, so it’s 46 years old, and the filter in that old plant was basically shot,” Henscheid said. “About 15 years ago, we decided we eventually were going to need a new plant, new filter.”
The tribe worked with the Indian Health Service to test filtration systems and identify the best fit for local conditions. After securing funding, the project went out for bid nearly five years ago, with construction beginning three years ago. Henscheid said engineers estimated the plant would cost closer to $12 million if bid today, but the tribe completed the work within the original budget. The contractor, Walga, was a Native‑owned firm, he said.
The new plant includes a 300,000‑gallon treated-water storage tank. The previous system held roughly one day of water supply, leaving little margin for repairs or outages.
“Now we have three, four days of supply when it used to be we only had about one day of supply,” Henscheid said.
The project follows years of utility improvements required under a 2014 consent decree that required the tribe to improve its water system or face shutdown.
Omaha Tribal Utilities replaced meters, repaired distribution lines and rehabilitated the water tower — improvements that Henscheid said helped demonstrate readiness for a major capital project.
“Because we made so much good progress in the last 10 years, I think that’s one reason we got funded,” he said.
With the plant online, the tribe expects the facility to serve the community for the next 40 to 50 years as broader infrastructure improvements continue.
