AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE FINALIST ALTERNATIVES

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Site Location. The study area for the Lincoln South and East Beltways Study is located on the southern and eastern edges of the City of Lincoln, partially within the city limits, in Lancaster County, Nebraska. The study area for the south beltway is bounded on the north by Yankee Hill Road, on the south by the half-section line 0.8 km (0.5 mi) south of Bennett Road, on the east by the half-section line 0.8 km (0.5 mi) east of 148^th Street, and on the west by US 77. The study area for the east beltway is bounded on the west by 98^th Street, on the east by the half-section line 0.8 km (0.5 mi) east of 148^th Street, on the north by I-80, and on the south by N-2.

Topography and Drainage. The approximately 207 km² (80 sq mi) study area is characterized by gently rolling uplands and nearly level bottomlands along Stevens Creek and Salt Creek which drain the area. More strongly sloping areas occur along the foot slopes of the stream terraces.

Vegetation. The native vegetation of Lancaster County was originally dominated by mid and tall grasses with trees growing along the narrow stream floodplains. With settlement, the prairie landscape was transformed by production agriculture which dominates the landscape today. Although woodlands still remain along the watercourses, only a few remnant prairie locations remain. Typical riparian woodland species in the study area are cottonwood, peach-leaf willow, American elm, green ash, hackberry, mulberry, honey locust, and box elder. Wetlands are generally limited to areas along the smaller stream courses.

Agriculture. Dominant crops are milo, corn, soybeans, wheat and hay crops. Historically, local farmers raised dairy and beef cattle, hogs, sheep and chickens; however, stock production has decreased significantly in the county. In 1997, the market value of agricultural products sold was $82,386,000. Crop sales accounted for 72 percent of the market value; livestock sales accounted for 28 percent.

Demographic Characteristics. Population in Lancaster County has shown steady increases during the past several decades. From 1980 to 1990, the County as a whole grew from 192,882 to 213,641, a 10.8 percent increase during the ten-year period (Bureau of Census, 1990). The population continued steady growth into the 1990's with a 1999 population of 237,657, a 11.1 percent increase. The annualized rate of population growth in the County during the 1990s has been 1.16 percent per year-modestly higher than the 1.03 percent per year during the 1980's. Growth during the 1990's was attributable to both natural increase (more people born than dying) (60 percent) and positive net migration (more people moving into the area than leaving) (40 percent). The positive net migration reflected both strong domestic migration (54 percent) and international migration (45 percent) (Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department, 1999).

Most of the growth in the region has occurred within the City of Lincoln which had a 1999 population of 215,925 and now accounts for 91 percent of the total population of the County. The annualized rate of population growth for the City during the 1990s has been 1.27 percent per year-modestly higher than the 1.11 percent per year during the 1980's.

The farm population within the County continued a steady decline from 4,275 to 3,081 in the ten-year period from 1980 to 1990. This contrasts with the rural non-farm population which had a steady increase from 15,059 in 1980 to 17,982 in 1990 (US Bureau of Census 1992). More current data is more limited but shows that full time farms decreased 6 percent from 713 to 670 in the 5-year period from 1992 to 1997 (US Bureau of Census 1997). Similarly, the average size of farms decreased 5 percent from 123 ha (305 ac) to 117 ha (289 ac) during this period. The trend in the beltway study area toward suburban growth is consistent with the trends evidenced in the comparison of the total County's farm and non-farm population. The non-farm population consists of persons living in unincorporated towns, or acreages and in other non-farm settings.

In addition, trends for the incorporated towns within the beltway study area also show increasing populations. For example, the town of Waverly increased from 511 in 1960, to 1,869 in 1990, and 2,137 in 1998. It is projected that the population of Waverly will range from 2,500 to 2,700 by 2010, a 17 to 26 percent increase from 1990.