News Release from
The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District

Date: Jan. 3, 2012
Contact: Jeff Buettner, Public Relations Coordinator
Phone: (308) 995-8601

January 3, 2012 Board Meeting Summary

(HOLDREGE, Neb.) -- The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District is concluding a demonstration project along an upper reach of the Phelps Canal designed to study the impact of intentional recharge on groundwater and return flows to the Platte River.

Civil engineer Cory Steinke reported at the monthly board meeting Tuesday that diversions into the canal for the project will end this week and the process of analyzing the collected data will begin.

Steinke said water has been diverted into a nine-mile section of the Phelps Canal and a small recharge pit near the Platte River since late September. The water infiltrates into the ground, allowing a controlled study of the effects of groundwater recharge on the Platte River.

Central is conducting the study in cooperation with the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program as part of a larger effort to determine how water can be regulated or conserved and applied toward the Program's objectives of reducing target flow shortages in the central Platte River by 130,000 to 150,000 acre-feet per year.

In addition to examining infiltration rates, the ability of such a project to function during the winter months was tested. The irrigation canal is normally drained in the fall, so the winter operation enabled participants to evaluate canal maintenance and pumping equipment issues inherent to winter operations.

While monitoring wells and drains produced quantifiable data, Steinke said a computer model will likely be used to estimate the overall effect on the groundwater table and how much and how fast groundwater migrates back to the river.

"It's a small project being tested to see if something on a larger scale could produce the desired results," Steinke said.

Prior to the project, Central obtained a temporary permit to divert water into the canal from the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources.

Also at Tuesday's board meeting:

• Electrical Superintendent Devin Brundage reported that Central's hydroelectric plants on the Supply Canal generated a record amount of power in 2011. The plants produced 414.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity last year, breaking the previous record of 384.2 million kilowatt-hours achieved in 1999.

"It was the first time that we had a full water supply for the entire year since the hydroplants were rehabilitated in the early 2000s," Brundage said. "I think the improved efficiency achieved through the rehabilitation project played a significant role in allowing us to surpass the previous record, and by a fairly large amount."

• Representatives from the Wilkins, Hinrichs, Stober architectural firm in Kearney attended the meeting to discuss the process of planning, bidding and building an addition to the Gothenburg office.

• Steinke said snowpack in the Rocky Mountains, the primary source of water for the Platte River, is lagging below normal, it remains too early to make predictions for spring runoff amounts. Normally, the greatest percentage of snow accumulation occurs in the late winter and early spring, he said.

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