waterbycounty

County water report

Sarpy County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Sarpy County, Nebraska.

Water grade

C

Water score

58.0

State rank

#50

of 90

Health violations

4

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

62.5%

16 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

69

29,911 recent measurements

Live streamflow

52%

Platte River at Louisville, Nebr.

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Sarpy County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 58.0 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

4

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

63% impaired

16 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

52% of mean

Platte River at Louisville, Nebr.

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

69

29,911 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

58.0/100

Health violations

4

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

8.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Sarpy County has 22 facilities in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #60 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSIThe Data Center Water Stress Index: 60% the county's water-system stress plus 40% how concentrated data centers already are, scored 0-100. Higher means data-center density and water pressure overlap more here.

72.2

0-100 index

Facility count

22

93.6 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

+8.0

Compared with US county median

Named operators

GoogleMeta

Mapped facilities

  • Fidelity

    Fidelity

    OSM
  • FIDELITY INVESTMENTS DATA CTR

    PAPILLION

    EPA ECHO
  • FIREBALL GROUP LLC DATA CENTER

    OMAHA

    EPA ECHO
  • Google

    Google

    OSM
  • Google

    Google

    OSM
  • Google

    Google

    OSM

16 more mapped facilities included in the county score.

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in Sarpy County.

1 MW1,000 MW
40%100%
799K gallons/dayHigh Impact

Your facility would use 128.2% of this county's industrial water baseline. Verify water rights and long-term drought projections before committing.

128.2% of county industrial baseline

Based on USGS 2020 water-use data and EPA-standard cooling intensity constants. Not a substitute for site-specific water rights analysis.

Editorial analysis

Understanding Sarpy County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Sarpy County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 58.0 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 4 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A large majority — 62.5% — of assessed waterways are impaired (10 of 16 water bodies) across Sarpy County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are escherichia coli (e. coli) and cause unknown. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T13:15:00.000-05:00) puts Platte River at 3.9k cfs — well below its long-term average at 52% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Sarpy County has extensive coverage with 69 active monitoring sites with 29,911 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and organics, pesticide. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Sarpy County

Water Verdict

Sarpy County receives a fair water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 58.0 out of 100. The water supply meets baseline federal standards, but there may be periods of elevated contaminant levels or infrastructure concerns worth monitoring.

Violation Context

Sarpy County has recorded 4 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 8.0 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Sarpy County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Sarpy County's drinking-water compliance score is 58.0 out of 100. The violation rate for Sarpy County is 8.0 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. E. coli is the leading impairment cause in Sarpy County's watershed. With 69 active water-quality monitoring sites in Sarpy County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the Platte River gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Sarpy County has water quality close to the average county in Nebraska. Its water score is within 0.1 points of the state average, meaning its overall water system performance is broadly representative of Nebraska as a whole.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Sarpy County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    E. coli (bacteria)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Cause Unknown

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Chloride

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Sarpy County

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

62.5%

10 of 16 assessed

High concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 2

    CAUSE UNKNOWN

  • 3

    CHLORIDE

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

69

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

30K

29,911 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Organics, Pesticide
  • Nutrient

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

3,860cfs

May 14, 6:15 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

52%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

Platte River at Louisville, Nebr.

USGS site
06805500
Drainage area
85,370 sq mi
Long-term mean
7,485 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Sarpy County:DPoor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

Try the full calculator →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Sarpy County, Nebraska?
Sarpy County, Nebraska has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 58.0/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 4 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Sarpy County?
Sarpy County has 4 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Sarpy County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 62.5% of Sarpy County's 16 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (10 impaired). The top reported causes are ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), CAUSE UNKNOWN, CHLORIDE. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Sarpy County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 29,911 measurements from 69 monitoring sites in Sarpy County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Organics, Pesticide, Nutrient. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Sarpy County right now?
Sarpy County's primary USGS streamgage on the Platte River has a pipeline snapshot of 3,860 cubic feet per second — 52% of the long-term mean of 7,484.7 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Sarpy County water compare to the Nebraska average?
Sarpy County's SDWIS water quality score of 58.0/100 is lower than the Nebraska state average of 58.1. The average water quality grade across Nebraska is D, based on data from 90 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Sarpy County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Sarpy County has a water quality grade of C (58.0/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Does Sarpy County have clean drinking water?
Sarpy County has 4 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 58.0/100 and grade C, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Sarpy County rank for water quality in Nebraska?
Sarpy County ranks #50 out of 90 counties in Nebraska by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 58.0/100, it falls in the middle third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor