The Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District has decided to look into building a rural water system for part of northeast Nebraska.

On Thursday the district board voted unanimously for a feasibility study that would begin immediately.

The study area includes parts of Madison County south of Norfolk and parts of Platte and Stanton counties.

Under the proposal, residents inside the proposed area would have a choice of signing up for service from the system or continue on their current sources.

It would take several years to build the system, which would provide an alternate source of water for people whose wells run dry during a drought, as happened last summer.