The natural resources conservations service has more than 300 watershed and flood control structures in Lancaster county.

Heavy rains this spring pushed the system to its limit. Thursday, an NRCS official toured the flood control system by air.

Some parts of Lancaster County received 12 inches of rain since last Monday.

Dennis Schroder of the Natural Resources Conservation Service credits extensive watershed and flood control structures with limiting the flooding.

"Millions of gallons of water that these things are holding back and limiting the flow on," Schroder said.

Run-off water sits in these watershed structures until it can be drained into Salt Creek through a pipe.

"What our state conservation refers to them as is a silent protector. They are right amongst the landscape, in the farm ground, in the channels," said Charles Leinen, NRCS.

"This structure has four houses around it. If the structure hadn't been there, it would have been inundated with a wall of water," Schroder said.

Schroder said recent 100 year storms push the watershed system to its limits. "They're at capacity now."

With the ground saturated, Schroeder said there's little that can be done at this time.

"The structures are in their intent. We hope Mother Nature cooperates with us, that there isn't any excessive rainfall coming in," he said.

At least for now Schroder said the runoff water will go where it's supposed to -- all the way to the Platte river.

Schroeder said they're in the process of updating two of the flood control structures.