McConaughy, Kingsley, the project and Big Mac -- 4/13/2008
Water rights and irrigation are in Nebraska's news every day and are easily among the top concerns at all levels. The earliest settlers had some of the same concerns being aired today and always sought to locate near streams or other bodies of water for personal use in addition to farming and livestock raising.
To this end, irrigation was introduced in the state in the 1850s, although in an insignificant fashion. After a number of irrigation conferences, an Irrigation Fair was held at North Platte from Oct. 9 to15, 1895.
Like the State Fair, thousands showed up to learn about irrigation and farming as well as to attend entertainment, here headlined by Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. The fair, though considered a complete success, did not live to see its planned second year when the Legislature failed to provide funding.
Charles McConaughy began a dialogue around canals and irrigation in 1910 and was joined by Minden banker George P. Kingsley a few months later. Their efforts led to the formation of the Tri-County Supplemental Water Association in 1913 with the pair elected to head the organization.
First, Gosper and Phelps counties were involved, with Adams then substituted for Gosper. Then, Kearney was added until a decision by the state Supreme Court removed Adams County when the court said water could not be moved from one district to another and Adams was in the Republican River's drainage.
Thus the project, which ultimately became the Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District, with Phelps, Kearney and Gosper counties, vacillated from two to four to three counties while usually still loosely called the Tri-County Project.
The 1933 county-affiliated organization, although called an "engineering monstrosity," was championed by Sen. George Norris and was therefore accepted as a federal WPA project in 1935 partially for its electric power generation function.
Although not fully completed until the end of 1943, it began generating electricity in January 1941. Ultimately the Tri-County Project also included the Middle Diversion Dam near Lexington, Plum Creek Reservoir and the Johnson Canyon Power Plant.
In 1936, seven potential sites for the dam on the Platte River were investigated, and though there was great encouragement for the project, all parties were far from enthusiastic.
The Grand Island Independent strongly editorialized against it, urging they "call a halt and stop this monstrosity." Ultimately the Keystone Site became the favored location that would replace portions of a lake bed, probably twice as large and possibly 100 feet deep, of some 10,000 years previous. They named this long-gone body of water Lake Diffendahl.
As land acquisition began, it was noted that the entire village of Lemoyne would be flooded and have to be relocated. Some properties were acquired and razed, a few moved, while the Bank of Lemoyne moved to Brule, bought one of the bank buildings formerly belonging to a bank that had failed in the Great Depression and renamed itself the Bank of Brule. Meantime a new, albeit temporary, town formed, nicknamed Kingsleyville or Georgetown, which was built to house the huge number of laborers who arrived.
Kingsley Dam, known briefly as Keystone Dam, began construction and by 1937 had 650 men working on the project. The first portion of construction was the 172-by-100-foot Morning Glory outlet, which contained 12 gates controlled by a separate tower that maintained the water level in the lake above the dam. By 1938-39 the two towers were completed, more than 1,000 men were at work and the river, which had been temporarily diverted, ran between them.
Various lawsuits raged while progress continued unabated. The population of Keith County, meantime, had grown by 24 percent due to the dam's construction.
Construction of the dam itself used a hydraulic fill method that moved clay, gravel and dirt in a sort of liquid slurry. The pumping of fill material from below the dam created Lake Ogallala.
By 1941, the dam was virtually completed, with water behind it reportedly already 40 feet deep. The dedication of Kingsley Dam was held July 22. C.W. McConaughy had passed away two months earlier.
When completed, Kingsley Dam was the second largest dam in the United States (some say the world) at 3 miles long, 162 feet high, 1,100 feet wide at the base, 28 feet wide at the top. It contained 26 million cubic feet of fill in its construction.
Lake McConaughy had a storage capacity of 1,948,000 acre-feet of water, cost $38 million, had 105 miles of shoreline, irrigated several counties, produced more than 230 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year and became the largest body of surface water in Nebraska.
Although Big Mac's water level has been dropping over the past few years, it is still important for irrigation and electric generation.
About half a million people visit and use its various facilities annually, and it has served to control flooding along the Platte and is said to have increased the population of many species in the area including the sandhill crane.
Historian Jim McKee, who still writes with a fountain pen, invites comments or questions. Write to him in care of the Journal Star or at jim@leebooksellers.com.
To this end, irrigation was introduced in the state in the 1850s, although in an insignificant fashion. After a number of irrigation conferences, an Irrigation Fair was held at North Platte from Oct. 9 to15, 1895.
Like the State Fair, thousands showed up to learn about irrigation and farming as well as to attend entertainment, here headlined by Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. The fair, though considered a complete success, did not live to see its planned second year when the Legislature failed to provide funding.
Charles McConaughy began a dialogue around canals and irrigation in 1910 and was joined by Minden banker George P. Kingsley a few months later. Their efforts led to the formation of the Tri-County Supplemental Water Association in 1913 with the pair elected to head the organization.
First, Gosper and Phelps counties were involved, with Adams then substituted for Gosper. Then, Kearney was added until a decision by the state Supreme Court removed Adams County when the court said water could not be moved from one district to another and Adams was in the Republican River's drainage.
Thus the project, which ultimately became the Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District, with Phelps, Kearney and Gosper counties, vacillated from two to four to three counties while usually still loosely called the Tri-County Project.
The 1933 county-affiliated organization, although called an "engineering monstrosity," was championed by Sen. George Norris and was therefore accepted as a federal WPA project in 1935 partially for its electric power generation function.
Although not fully completed until the end of 1943, it began generating electricity in January 1941. Ultimately the Tri-County Project also included the Middle Diversion Dam near Lexington, Plum Creek Reservoir and the Johnson Canyon Power Plant.
In 1936, seven potential sites for the dam on the Platte River were investigated, and though there was great encouragement for the project, all parties were far from enthusiastic.
The Grand Island Independent strongly editorialized against it, urging they "call a halt and stop this monstrosity." Ultimately the Keystone Site became the favored location that would replace portions of a lake bed, probably twice as large and possibly 100 feet deep, of some 10,000 years previous. They named this long-gone body of water Lake Diffendahl.
As land acquisition began, it was noted that the entire village of Lemoyne would be flooded and have to be relocated. Some properties were acquired and razed, a few moved, while the Bank of Lemoyne moved to Brule, bought one of the bank buildings formerly belonging to a bank that had failed in the Great Depression and renamed itself the Bank of Brule. Meantime a new, albeit temporary, town formed, nicknamed Kingsleyville or Georgetown, which was built to house the huge number of laborers who arrived.
Kingsley Dam, known briefly as Keystone Dam, began construction and by 1937 had 650 men working on the project. The first portion of construction was the 172-by-100-foot Morning Glory outlet, which contained 12 gates controlled by a separate tower that maintained the water level in the lake above the dam. By 1938-39 the two towers were completed, more than 1,000 men were at work and the river, which had been temporarily diverted, ran between them.
Various lawsuits raged while progress continued unabated. The population of Keith County, meantime, had grown by 24 percent due to the dam's construction.
Construction of the dam itself used a hydraulic fill method that moved clay, gravel and dirt in a sort of liquid slurry. The pumping of fill material from below the dam created Lake Ogallala.
By 1941, the dam was virtually completed, with water behind it reportedly already 40 feet deep. The dedication of Kingsley Dam was held July 22. C.W. McConaughy had passed away two months earlier.
When completed, Kingsley Dam was the second largest dam in the United States (some say the world) at 3 miles long, 162 feet high, 1,100 feet wide at the base, 28 feet wide at the top. It contained 26 million cubic feet of fill in its construction.
Lake McConaughy had a storage capacity of 1,948,000 acre-feet of water, cost $38 million, had 105 miles of shoreline, irrigated several counties, produced more than 230 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year and became the largest body of surface water in Nebraska.
Although Big Mac's water level has been dropping over the past few years, it is still important for irrigation and electric generation.
About half a million people visit and use its various facilities annually, and it has served to control flooding along the Platte and is said to have increased the population of many species in the area including the sandhill crane.
Historian Jim McKee, who still writes with a fountain pen, invites comments or questions. Write to him in care of the Journal Star or at jim@leebooksellers.com.
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