OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new federal study could speed up the construction of several more lakes in the Omaha area to help control flooding and boost recreation options.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District will reopen a study of the Papillion Creek Watershed that hasn’t been touched since the early 1970s. The federal agency approved the study in June as Nebraska’s only project to receive funding this year.

The decision to resume the decades-dormant study could lead to lakes near the district opening to the public in about 15 years. The lakes were projected to take about 50 years to construct.

The move comes as the latest addition to the Omaha area’s system of flood-control reservoirs, Flanagan Lake, opened last month.