Clatonia under mandatory water conservation as village’s only well faces breakdown risk

CLATONIA, Neb. (KOLN) — The Village of Clatonia is under mandatory water conservation measures until further notice to prevent its pump from breaking down again.

The village said Friday it received its report from Sargent Drilling, a well drilling contractor, and learned the well screens were 70% to 80% clogged. Sand and gravel are traveling into the pump, which is reducing the pump’s capacity and causing mechanical issues.

The village currently has one operational well.

The well will need to be shut off for four to five days in order for Sargent Drilling to clean the screens. However, cleaning the screens while also keeping water available for residents is not possible until the village gets another well.

According to the village, Sargent Drilling said the pump will likely break down again in another year because of the stress on it.

Public hearing scheduled

On Thursday, Aug. 20, the village will hold a public hearing regarding an application to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which is available to local governments for community and economic development activities. The hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Clatonia Community Center.

The village is asking for $630,000 in CDBG funding for the Clatonia Municipal Water Well Project. The project will be funded through a combination of CDBG funds and a $166,700 village match, totaling $796,700.

The project would:

• Install a new municipal well 356 feet west-northwest of the village’s existing well. The well will be approximately 100 feet deep, with a 16-inch stainless steel screen and 16-inch PVC casing, and will have a design production capacity of 350 to 400 gallons per minute.
• Construct a new well building.
• Install 500 linear feet of 6-inch PVC water main to connect the new well to the water tower.
• Make other incidental improvements.
• Pay for professional services.

Previous issues and ongoing repairs

The update comes shortly after the village lifted a boil-water advisory originally issued on July 16 due to a well pump malfunction.

On Monday, Clatonia Board of Trustees Chairwoman Sheri Holsing detailed the ongoing conversations and efforts to set up another water source.

In March 2013, the new tower and well were installed through a combined $1.55 million loan and grant from USDA Rural Development. The village is still paying off the loan.

Holsing said the village’s second well collapsed years later. In April 2024, the village applied for a grant to construct a new well.

“We were aware that the screens were plugging and that we would eventually need another water source to properly clean them,” Holsing wrote.

Before the village reached the third and final stage, federal funding was paused to prevent government disruption, and the village had to start over.

The village spent $23,000 to clean the screens in November 2024 given the urgency, but the issue still remains.

“Sargent has noted that the water level has not dropped significantly, so they planned to avoid setting the pipe as deep in order to reduce sand intake and slow further plugging. We are hopeful this will give us some breathing room,” Holsing said.

Holsing said she is looking to pursue another grant so the financial burden doesn’t fall solely on the village or its residents.

“Some grant programs are not available to us because our community’s average income is too high to qualify,” she said.

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