Water in Nebraska.
Nebraska's almost-total reliance on the Ogallala Aquifer makes nitrate exposure from corn agriculture the dominant concern. Multiple small systems regularly exceed the federal nitrate MCL.
How Nebraska regulates drinking water.
Federal SDWA primacy. No state MCLs stricter than federal. Long-running political dispute over agricultural nitrate accountability.
Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy — Drinking Water Section
Nebraska's water history, in order.
The contamination events, regulatory shifts, and major settlements that define how this state thinks about drinking water today.
- 2018
Multiple small Sandhills communities exceed nitrate MCL.
- 2023
Cedar County 'cancer cluster' formally linked to longstanding nitrate exposure.
The actual water you drink.
The physical rivers, aquifers, lakes, and reservoirs that feed Nebraska's public water systems. Source quality is the foundation of tap quality — and where the long-term protection fights happen.
- aquiferOgallala Aquifer (High Plains)
Western and central Nebraska groundwater.
- riverPlatte River
Omaha + Lincoln supply.
- riverMissouri River
Omaha metro.
Source-water mix
~85% groundwater (Ogallala), ~15% surface water
Major cities served
Omaha · Lincoln · Bellevue · Grand Island
Who actually serves the water.
The largest public water systems in Nebraska by population served. Click your ZIP after to see the full live EWG report for your specific utility.
- Metropolitan Utilities DistrictOmaha600Kserved
- Lincoln Water SystemLincoln290Kserved
Where the contamination comes from.
Every state has a different industrial fingerprint. The industries below are the dominant historical and active contamination sources in Nebraska's drinking water systems.
Corn and cattle agriculture drives the country's most-documented agricultural nitrate exposure. Limited heavy industrial contamination relative to peer states. Hexagon-area pesticide legacy in eastern NE.
What state data flags most consistently.
Drawn from EPA SDWIS sampling records, EWG state summaries, and regional regulatory action over the past five years. Read the full deep dive on each.
Nitrate
Fertilizer and animal waste runoff. Acutely dangerous for infants under 6 months.
Arsenic
A naturally occurring carcinogen. Highest in private wells and the rural Southwest.
Trihalomethanes (TTHMs)
Byproducts of chlorinating water. Linked to bladder cancer at chronic exposure.
Risk isn't evenly distributed.
Rural farm families on private wells face the highest nitrate exposure. Infants on formula are at acute risk.
~16% on private wells, with significant nitrate exposure in central and eastern agricultural zones.
What's coming for Nebraska's water.
Ogallala drawdown threatens long-term western NE water supply. Intensifying spring rainfall events drive nitrate spikes in shallow groundwater. Drought cycles stress Platte River flow.
Voluntary statewide
Nebraska DEE provides voluntary screening; participation is uneven.
Five questions for your next Consumer Confidence Report.
Your utility is required to send you a Consumer Confidence Report annually. Most are dense and procedural. These are the questions worth following up on for Nebraska specifically.
- 1
What is my system's nitrate running annual average?
- 2
If I'm on a private well, when was it last tested for nitrate and atrazine?
- 3
Has my Cedar County-area well been part of the cancer-cluster investigation?
Most state regulators allow public records requests for the underlying lab reports behind your CCR — your utility should be able to provide them on request.
Reverse osmosis (NSF/ANSI 58) for nitrate. Boiling does NOT remove nitrate — it concentrates it.
We don't recommend brands — the NSF/ANSI certification number matters more than the name on the box.
This is the state. Your address is the answer.
State-level patterns don't tell you about your specific tap. Run your ZIP for the live EWG contaminant report on your utility — or build a personalized Water File for your household.
Source-water mix, utility counts, lead-service-line estimates, and private-well shares are approximate, drawn from EPA SDWIS public data and state primacy-agency summaries. Contaminant rankings reflect EWG state-level monitoring data and regional regulatory action — they are not exhaustive. Timeline events are publicly documented. See methodology for the full sourcing. Search EPA SDWIS for Nebraska