Review of ‘Unusual’ 2018-19 Water Year

To say it has been an unusual year is perhaps an understatement.

The 2018-19 water year ended on Sept. 30 (a water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the next year) and it was a year marked by heavy and frequent rain storms, floods, planting delays, bone-chilling winter temperatures, and even “bomb cyclones,” among other anomalies in terms of weather and water.

While this part of Nebraska was largely spared from the calamities that befell other parts of the state (except for the deluge that caused flooding along Turkey Creek in Kearney and the Wood River flooding that struck several other central Nebraska towns), it has also been an unusual year for the water supply at Lake McConaughy.  While total water year inflows were above average, the 1.19 million acre-feet barely cracked the Top 20, finishing at 19th highest in the reservoir’s history.  (An acre-foot is the volume of water that would cover one acre with 12 inches.)

But it was the inflows during the summer months that made the water year unusual.  Normally inflows are highest in October and then in May and early June.  In fact, from October of last year through May, inflows were pretty much in line with the normal monthly averages.

Then came summer.  Inflows to Lake McConaughy during June were twice the normal amount; more than two and a half times normal in July; and 348 percent of normal in August.  In fact, the 162,843 acre-feet (a-f) that flowed into Lake McConaughy in August was the highest monthly total for the year.  Historically, as one would expect in a snowmelt-fed basin, inflows during August are near the low point for the year, trailing only July (median inflows of 46,815 a-f in August and 45,718 a-f in July).

Several factors converged to yield this outcome.  First, mountain snowpack in Colorado and Wyoming was above average in all three basins – the upper and lower North Platte River and the South Platte River – that affect river flows into Nebraska.  The subsequent runoff, particularly in the North Platte Basin in which Lake McConaughy is located, entered U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) reservoirs in Wyoming that were already holding plentiful supplies of carryover storage from the last year.

Second, frequent precipitation across much of the Platte Valley suppressed demand for irrigation.  Rainfall during the growing season (April through September) collected in Central’s Holdrege gauge totaled 25.44 inches, compared with the 20-year average of 18.63 inches and 19.0 inches since 1957.

However, the frequency of precipitation perhaps played a more significant part in reducing irrigation demand than the amount of rainfall.  Few weeks went by this summer without some amount of rain, which was often enough to dissuade an irrigator from starting his pivot or opening the gates on his pipe.

And finally, a mid-July tunnel collapse on an irrigation canal that delivers water to the Goshen Irrigation District in Wyoming and the Gering-Ft. Laramie Canal in Nebraska’s Panhandle, prevented delivery of water to about 107,000 acres in the two states.  With abundant water already in storage and the approaching need to make room for next year’s inflows, releases from the USBR reservoirs that normally would been diverted into the two canals continued downstream to Lake McConaughy.

Lake McConaughy’s lowest elevation (3,252.5 feet above sea level) during the 2018-19 water year actually occurred on Oct. 1, 2018, the first day of the water year.  The reservoir’s peak elevation occurred on July 15 at 3,260.1 feet, declining to elevation 3,257.9 in mid-August and currently stands near elevation 3,259.0, about six feet below full elevation.

And here’s an interesting observation:  Lake McConaughy’s elevation of 3,258.7 feet on Aug. 31 was the same as it was on Aug. 1.  A check back through the data reveals that that has never happened in the reservoir’s 79 years.  While August’s inflows were well short of a record amount, the monthly total did rank fifth behind 2010, 1973, 2011 and the record of more than 328,000 a-f in 1983.

So if you’ve noticed quite a bit more water flowing down the Platte River this summer, that’s the explanation.  A lot of water going into Lake McConaughy, and once it was released, not much demand for it to be diverted into the many irrigation canals along the central Platte.

With long-range forecasts calling for a cold and wet winter, one wonders what Mother Nature has in store for Nebraska in the new water year.

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Swimmer conquered Lake McConaughy in 1968. Why?

Swimmer conquered Lake McConaughy in 1968.  Why?

I came across an article in a recent issue of the Keith County News about a young man who swam the length of Lake McConaughy in 1968.

I’d never heard of such an accomplishment, but the article (by KCN staff writer Kenneth Lipp) indicated that it was the first time anyone had ever accomplished such a feat.  No wonder.  The swimmer, Scott Skultety of Omaha, had to travel 21 miles from the west end of the reservoir to Kingsley Dam.  It took the 17-year-old 11-½ hours to cover that distance.

Now, for someone who admittedly swims like a rock, I was duly impressed by such an accomplishment.  My first musings were:  1) Has anyone completed such a swim since 1968?  And, 2) Why would someone attempt such a challenge?

As to the first question, an internet search of long-distance swims at Lake McConaughy turned up nothing other than a reference to a planned swim by a marathon swimmer in 2017, but I could find nothing to confirm that such a swim ever took place.

The answer to the second question involves some speculation on my part, but I think it probably comes down to the reason for many other such feats.  “Because it’s there.”

In March 1923, a British mountain climber by the name of George Mallory was trying to raise money for an expedition to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.  At the time, no one had ever conquered the highest mountain on earth.  Mallory had failed on to previous attempts to reach the summit twice, but was undeterred.

When asked by a New York Times reporter why he wanted to climb Everest, his response was simply, “Because it’s there.”

From that seemingly frivolous remark, Mallory expanded in a manner that perhaps best explains the reasons for “why?”  And perhaps it explains why a lot of other such attempts are made to reach seemingly impossible goals.

“Everest is the highest mountain in the world and no man has reached its summit,” he said.  “Its existence is a challenge.  The answer is instinctive, a part, I suppose, of man’s desire to conquer the universe.”

Mallory and his climbing partner sought to quench that desire in 1924, but it cost the pair their lives.  Witnesses saw them make it to within a thousand feet of the summit, but then lost sight of them.  They were never seen again.

Successfully reaching the summit of Mount Everest had to wait until 1953 when Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa companion Tenzing Norgay reached the top.

I don’t know if young Mr. Skultety was inspired by such notions; the article didn’t address the “why” question.  But again, it was quite a feat.  Lake McConaughy is known for becoming suddenly unfriendly to boaters and swimmers alike if a sudden storm should blow up.  When the wind blows, the waves can become an issue.  Perhaps the weather forecast and the water conditions were perfect for such an adventure and he certainly didn’t have to contend with sharks, jellyfish or other such dangers (other than perhaps a careless boater running over him in mid-swim).

None of that diminishes his accomplishment.  Come on, it was more than 21 MILES!  Now, I’m aware that lots of other people compete in events that require long-distance swimming (as well as running and biking), but like I said, I’m not aware of anyone else swimming the length of the lake.  (If someone sees this post, and knows of such an accomplishment, I’d love to hear the details.)

Skultety went on to swim competitively for Kansas University and, in fact, was the 1971 Big Eight Conference swimmer of the year, but he noted in the KCN article that none of his other accomplishments has been so enduring.

Even if someone else has swam the length of Lake McConaughy since that August day in 1968, he’ll always be the first to accomplish such an exploit.

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Tours and Interesting People

Tours and Interesting People

I just completed a series of tours of facilities that are part of The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s hydropower-irrigation project.  In fact, I was leading tours on seven of ten work days over a recent two-week period.

That in itself is not news.  Organizing and leading tours of the project is part of my job, a part that I greatly enjoy, and it was just happenstance that the tours were all scheduled so closely together.  Such tours are a valuable part of our public relations tool box.  You can look at maps, diagrams and videos, but nothing beats “boots on the ground.”

As an aside, I’ve often wished that I had kept track of how many project tours I’ve personally been part of over the last 28 years, but sadly, neglected to do so.  I’m guessing that it’s around 200.

Groups that have toured Central’s project are incredibly diverse.  Space does not permit a listing of the many different kinds of groups and organizations who made the trip to Lake McConaughy and back, but they range from irrigation customers and cabin owners to representatives of governmental agencies and local service clubs.

Participants have come from across the state and from all over the world.  We’ve had visitors from Africa, Asia, South America and Europe.  There’ve been politicians, political candidates and professors; senior citizens in life-long learning programs and students in law school, graduate school and high school.  We’ve hosted groups from environmental organizations, members of the media, and Extension educators from across the state.  And on and on.

But it’s not the number of groups that have toured the project over the years that sticks out, it’s the hundreds of interesting people who make up those groups.

One such person was Harold Stevens, the late Dawson County Extension agent, who was far more than just a tour participant.  Working with Central personnel, he organized what he called “5-O-5 tours.”  The name came from the plan for the tour to depart from Lexington at 5 a.m., and return the same day at 5 p.m.

His tours began in the 1950s when Harold would string together a caravan of vehicles and visit facilities operated by Central, the Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District (which merged with two other public power entities to become the Nebraska Public Power District) and other area irrigation companies.

At the time, Kingsley Dam, Lake McConaughy, the hydroelectric plants, and the canal systems and reservoirs were still relatively new on the scene, wonders of modern engineering that attracted visitors from across the region.

A few decades later, the caravans – which were assembled once or twice a year – were replaced by Central’s passenger van and traversed the route two or three times each summer.  At some point in the 1990s, Harold was reminded that, given the dwindling rural population of the state and changing habits, fewer and fewer people were around who knew what it meant to get out of bed before 5 a.m.

It took some convincing, but we were eventually able to persuade him to re-name the tour, calling it the “7-O-7 tour.”  The change in timing helped continue to populate the tour and Harold kept at it until he had organized and participated in 104 “5-O-5 / 7-O-7” tours.  His last tour took place in 2003, only months before he passed away at the age of 85.

At one time, it was common for Central to conduct two-day tours simply because there are a lot of miles to travel and many interesting sights to see.  The end of the first day found the groups at Jeffrey Lodge, where a boat cruise on Jeffrey Lake, a steak dinner and continued discussion of any number of current topics awaited.

In today’s busy world, it seems that potential tour participants are reluctant – or unable – to escape their day jobs for two whole days.  One-day tours – kind of like Stevens’ “7-O-7 tours” – are now the most common.  And that’s a shame because we’re unable to really take in the whole project in a single day, simply because of the time constraints and distances involved.

But that leads to my point.  We still offer tours of the project.  Put together a group of nine or 10 folks who might be interested, arrange a date or dates that work and we’ll take care of the rest.  It won’t cost you a dime, other than the cost of traveling to our front door.

There’s much to see and experience.  And then you can become part of another group full of interesting people who have toured the Central District’s hydro-irrigation project.

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Tim Anderson: Colleague, Mentor, Friend

Tim Anderson: Colleague, Mentor, Friend

This is a reproduction of my first column for the Kearney Hub as a “Soils and Streams” contributor since the untimely passing last October of my predecessor, Tim Anderson.  For years, Tim contributed to the Hub, so it seems fitting that I use this space to share some memories and observations about working with him for more than 27 years.

Tim and I joined The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District in Holdrege at about the same time in August 1990.  I actually arrived a couple of weeks earlier than Tim because he was just transitioning from his position as executive director of the Holdrege Chamber of Commerce and had a few “irons in the fire” that he wanted to take care of before leaving the Chamber.

Central was then in the midst of seeking a new license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to operate its hydroelectric facilities associated with Kingsley Dam.  Don Long, the assistant to the general manager at the time who was responsible for public as well as governmental relations for the District, was nearing retirement and Central’s management decided that with the relicensing process underway and a growing need to expand the District’s outreach to the public and the media, it would be best to hire two people for a new public relations department.

Tim was 12 years older than I and much more experienced in working with state senators and other governmental officials, so it was predetermined he would assume the role as Central’s lobbyist and spokesman to the public and the media.  I would support various public relations activities, including the District’s newsletter, news releases, brochures, and eventually our plunge into the “World Wide Web” with the launch of our first web site.

Over the many ensuing years, Tim and I worked together on many projects and traveled many miles together on tours of the project and other Central-related PR business.

One of my favorite memories was one of our first projects:  the search for a time capsule that had been buried inside of Kingsley Dam for opening on the dam’s 100th anniversary.  In 1991, as part of the dam’s 50th anniversary, Tim thought it would be great to retrieve the time capsule and place it in a more accessible place for opening in 2041.  There was just one problem: no one knew where the capsule was located.

A search of Central’s archives turned up no record of its location and an older employee’s vague memory of a plaque describing the capsule’s resting place being sent to the State Capitol for safe-keeping turned out to be a dead end — no one at the Capitol had ever seen or heard of such a plaque.

Undeterred, we pored through old photographs of the dam’s construction, including photos taken during the dedication ceremonies in July 1941.  We found one depicting two young girls – daughters of Central engineers – poised to cut a cable and send the time capsule through a casing deep into the earthen dam.  Thanks to this photographic evidence, we were able to determine the approximate location of the shaft near the south end of the dam.

Tim enlisted the assistance of Rodger Knaggs, then Central’s Kingsley Dam superintendent and an experienced “beach-comber,” to use his metal detector to locate the top of the casing.  In a few days, Rodger called to say he’d gotten some promising “pings.”  Coincidentally, the highway across the dam was being resurfaced; once the concrete and asphalt were removed, it would be easier to find the opening to the shaft.

Tim came into my office and said, “Grab your camera!  Rodger thinks he found the capsule!”

We jumped into his car and raced to Kingsley Dam, arriving just in time to watch the retrieval efforts involving use of a hook at the end of a long cable.  However, it soon became apparent that the casing had bowed enough over the past 50 years that removal of the capsule would be impossible.

Tim was clearly disappointed, but said, “Let’s mark the spot and try not to lose it again!”  Maybe, he continued, in another 50 years some new approach or machinery would make it possible to remove the capsule in time for the dam’s 100th anniversary.  Always the optimist.

On the subject of his columns for the Hub, they were always interesting.  He would give his handwritten article to me to “clean up,” since my college education was in journalism, but whereas I performed the editing function – grammar, punctuation, syntax and the like –the topics and content of the columns were always his.

Over the years, he wrote about many things.  Most were uncontroversial, but he wasn’t averse to occasionally writing about issues that were important to him, even when he knew he might ruffle some feathers.  His topics were typically related to irrigation, natural resources, the importance of public power, the Nebraska Legislature, politics, drought, water law, interstate water issues, and the need for “more young people with fresh ideas to carry on the work” in water resources management.

He even wrote about “global warming,” (or “climate change,” as it’s now called) and what it might mean for the future of Nebraska’s agriculture.  And as part of a column about Legislative leadership, he expressed disappointment that term limits would lead to Sen. Ernie Chambers’ departure from the Legislature at the end of 2008, taking with him his sharp wit and ability to halt the passage of “badly written and poorly conceived bills.”

In the end, what I’ll remember most about Tim were his people skills.  Tim knew people.  I don’t mean he just knew their names and titles; he knew about people.  He could relate stories about prominent politicians, businessmen and community leaders, but not in a name-dropping way.  He knew their personalities and how to best interact with them.  He was the consummate “people person.”

At the same time, he rarely talked about himself or his accomplishments.  He’d share a tidbit or two, usually while talking about someone else as part of the story, but “I” was a rarely used pronoun.  He had a way of turning the conversation, almost imperceptively, back to being about the person with whom he was speaking.

While I’m continuing Tim’s role as a Hub columnist, there’s no way to replace him.  At his funeral, one of the songs Tim chose for the service was “I Did It My Way,” by Frank Sinatra.  Yes, Tim, you certainly did.

UNL Law Students Tour Central’s Project

UNL Law Students Tour Central’s Project

Continuing a tradition that dates to the mid 1960s, students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law recently toured Central’s hydro-irrigation project as part of an “Environmental Law and Water Resource Management Seminar.”

The tour is part of an interdisciplinary seminar with the Department of Civil Engineering.  Emphasis usually is placed on contemporary environmental issues and water resource management.

UNL law professor Anthony Schutz, a native of Elwood, Neb., has arranged for the tour in recent years.  This year he was accompanied by Brian Dunnigan, former NDNR director and now working for the engineering firm Olsson Associates, who is a guest lecturer for the seminar.

The students and their instructors traveled from Lincoln early in the morning to meet me at Central’s administrative headquarters in Holdrege for a brief preview of the project and a description of Central’s operations.  They then jumped back onto the motor coach and toured through several stops in the irrigated area, including sites that featured pivot turnouts from the canal, a sub-surface drip irrigation installation, an example of a “drop-span” pivot near Loomis, and a site in the E67 Canal area equipped with telemetry equipment (all 80-odd customer turnouts in the E67 area have such equipment) to provide customers with near real-time water delivery and evapotranspiration data.

After a trip across the Johnson Lake Dam, a stop at the lake’s inlet and a peek at the new head gate on the E65 Canal, the group headed for lunch at the Gothenburg Barn and Grill.  The bus then headed for the Gothenburg Control Center where Gothenburg Division Manager Devin Brundage explained the control center’s function and provided more detail about generation at Central’s hydroelectric plants.

From Gothenburg, the bus headed to North Platte where Kent Miller, manager of the Twin Platte Natural Resources District, briefed the students about the NRD’s functions and current projects, including participation in the NCORPE river augmentation project.

Then it was on to Jeffrey Lodge at Jeffrey Lake where the group enjoyed a catered dinner followed by a discussion with three attorneys from the area.

The 2017 UNL Engineering/Law Student Tour group stands for a photo in the shadow of the Outlet Tower at Lake McConaughy. Law Professor Anthony Schutz is second from left, and Brian Dunnigan, guest lecturer, is at far right.

This year, rather than discussing water law, the focus was on a different legal issue.  Retired attorney and Gosper County Judge Carlton Clark, current Gosper County Judge Todd Wilson and Bronson (B.J.) Malcom, an attorney in Cozad, spoke to the law students about giving some thought to practicing law in rural Nebraska.  Attorneys in some rural Nebraska counties can be pretty sparse on the ground, which provides an opportunity for young lawyers to get started in their profession, practice in a variety of legal proceedings, and fill a need that currently exists outside of Nebraska’s metropolitan areas.

The next morning, after a continental breakfast at the lodge, the group headed to Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy.

The students had an opportunity to browse through the Water Interpretive Center at the Lake McConaughy Visitors Center and watched a 20-minute video featuring an actor portrayal of the late, great Sen. George Norris in which he explains the importance of water within the Platte River Basin.

Tom Hayden, supervisor of NDNR’s West Field Office Operations in Bridgeport, Neb., was a special guest speaker on the tour, explaining to the students the complicated world of water administration in Nebraska.  I could almost see the students’ heads spinning as Tom related stories of administering flows in the Platte River.  His job has become ever more complicated as demands for water increase from every direction (environmental account flows, instream flow appropriations, excess flow calculations, special water legislation, etc.).

The outlet structures and Kingsley Dam photographed from the “Hilltop” on Day 2 of the tour. As you can see by the blue skies and placid water of Lake McConaughy, it was a beautiful day for a tour.

After Hayden’s presentation, the group visited the outlet structures for Lake McConaughy (the outlet tower and the “Morning Glory” spillway), pausing for the group picture that accompanies this story.  The next stop was the “physical exercise” portion of the tour:  the trip down and back up several flights of stairs to explore the inner workings of the Kingsley Hydroplant courtesy of Kingsley Dam Foreman Nate Nielsen.

Finally, having worked up sufficient appetites, the students boarded the bus for a short ride to Ole’s Big Game Bar and Grill at Paxton where Central treated them to a lunch of buffalo burgers before sending them back to their studies in Lincoln.  Good luck on the quiz over what you learned while on tour!

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Research of the District’s archives indicates that the first law school tour of Central’s project took place in March of 1964.  Professors Richard Harnsberger and John Gradwohl shepherded the first class of law students on the three-day project tour.  District personnel conducting the tour included Don Long, assistant to the general manager; Bernard Donelan, manager of the Kingsley Division; and Ralph Knepper, hydraulic engineer.  Evenings were spent at Jeffrey Lodge discussing legal aspects of the project and water law issues with Ralph Canaday, who was Central’s chief legal counsel from the first years of the District’s formation until his retirement in 1959.  Canaday remained active with the District as a consultant for several years after his retirement.

A course in water law took on new meaning for this group of University of Nebraska law students in 1964. The group is shown at Jeffrey Lodge with R.O. Canaday, former legal counsel for Central, seated in the middle, and Professors John Gradwohl (standing at left) and Richard Harnsberger (standing at right). Participants on the tour included (not in order in the photo) Earl Ahlschwede of York; Robert Calkings, Lincoln; Calvin Robinson, Broken Bow; Peter Henstad, Lincoln; David Maser, Sutton; James Sheldon, Lincoln; Robert Snell, Columbus; Richard Spaedt, Lincoln; and Dennis Winkle, Pickrell.

The water law tour has been going on ever since, with but a few interruptions caused by weather or scheduling conflicts.  Over the years, the focus of the seminar evolved from just water law and future attorneys to include graduate students from UNL’s engineering college.  Professor Ralph Marlette was instrumental in involving students from the Department of Civil Engineering in the tour.  Harnsberger and Marlette led the tours for through the 1970s and ‘80s until retiring and handing off the seminar to Law Professor Norm Thorson, and a series of civil engineering professors, including John Stansbury and Rollin Hotchkiss.

Later, former NDNR director and civil engineer Mike Jess, who was a guest lecturer for the seminar and also was once an engineering student on the tour in the 1960s, helped conduct the tours for several years.  Ann Bleed, also a former NDNR director, succeeded Jess and this year the tour welcomed yet another former NDNR director, Brian Dunnigan.  Sandra Zellmer, a UNL law professor with an impressive background in water and natural resources law has also filled in occasionally during the tour.

A feature that was added – or returned — to the tour within the past decade was the after-dinner discussion with practicing attorneys about water law.  Mike Klein, Central’s long-time legal counsel, and Judge James Doyle, now a District Court Judge, but formerly the legal counsel for some Natural Resources Districts, have led lively and entertaining discussions about various legal aspects, court cases and administrative actions involving Nebraska’s water resources.

Nebraska Hall of Fame, 2017

Nebraska Hall of Fame, 2017

As a follow-up to a March 23, 2017 blog on this site regarding the nomination of George E. Johnson for the Nebraska Hall of Fame, I regret to report that our efforts came up a little short.

Mr. Johnson was selected as one of the three finalists (among 12 nominees), but finished second in the final vote on Aug. 2 to noted architect Thomas R. Kimball.

We were, of course, disappointed in the results, although we were pleased that he was among the finalists considered by the Hall of Fame Commission.  This is in no way meant to minimize the selection of Mr. Kimball, who was also imminently qualified for inclusion in Nebraska’s Hall of Fame.  We extend our congratulations to his supporters and our thanks to the commissioners for their engaged efforts in the process.

During the public hearing at which the results were announced, more than one commissioner mentioned the difficulty of selecting from among the many qualified individuals who were nominated for the honor.

That is completely understandable.  Nebraska has produced many, many people who have contributed greatly to the state’s culture, society, and growth.  Only a relative handful have been enshrined in the Hall, which was established in 1961.  As an aside, the first member of the Hall was Sen. George Norris, who also played an important role as an advocate for Central’s hydropower/irrigation project and the establishment of public power in Nebraska.  As a contemporary of Mr. Johnson, the two worked closely for many years to gain funding and approval to build the project.

We believe that Mr. Johnson’s accomplishments and his service to the State of Nebraska make him a deserving member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame and his name will again be submitted to the commission during the next Hall of Fame nomination cycle.

Below is a list of this cycle’s nominees (the process is repeated once every five years), as well as list of individuals who are members of the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

2105-19 Nominees

Solon Hannibal Borglum (b. 1868 – d. 1922) – World renowned sculptor and younger brother of the man who carved the Mt. Rushmore national monument.  Many of his sculptures related to his life as a rancher near Cairo, Neb.

Calvin Chapman (b. 1843 – d. 1927) – A cooper (barrel maker) by trade, he worked as a “conductor” on the Nebraska City branch of the Underground Railroad, established by abolitionist John Brown to transport slaves from southern states to freedom in the north in the pre-Civil War era.  He later served as mayor of Nebraska City.

Charles Gere (b. 1838 – d. 1904) – Member of Nebraska’s first Legislature and played a role in the development of the railroad in Nebraska.  He was a newspaper publisher and steered to passage the bills that created the University of Nebraska, the state penitentiary and the state mental hospital.

Thomas Vincent Golden (b. 1853 – d. 1928) – A teacher and newspaper publisher, he was instrumental in bringing Irish immigrants to Nebraska and was a leader of the early Democratic Populist movement in the state.  Also was a leading proponent of irrigation to help offset the periodic droughts that plagued Nebraska.

Howard Hanson (b. 1896 – d. 1981) – A performing musician and composer, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 4 in 1944.  Director of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

Omer Madison Kern (b. 1855 – d. 1942) – Three-term Populist congressman representing the state from 1891 to 1897.  An early advocate of farmers’ and homesteaders’ rights.

Thomas Rogers Kimball (b. 1862 – d. 1934) – An architect, master planner and professional advisor on the Nebraska Capitol Commission and administered the construction of the Capitol.  Designed a number of Nebraska landmark buildings.  Planned and designed facilities for the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha.

Rachel A.H. Lloyd (b. 1839 – d. 1900) – Arrived in Lincoln as an associate professor of analytic chemistry in 1887.  The first American woman to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry when she graduated from the University of Zurich in 1887.  Helped bring about the construction of the sugar beet processing plant in Grand Island in 1891 and spent her life encouraging women to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in the sciences at a time when few women were doing so.

Francis Patrick Matthews (b. 1887 – d. 1952) – An attorney, he was a part owner of WOW Radio in Omaha, which later became WOW-TV.  Also was a founding director and vice president of the United Service Organization (USO) and traveled throughout Europe, Asia and Africa during WWII to monitor the welfare of U.S. troops.  Earned the Award for Merit in 1946 for his activities.  Later served on the President’s Commission on Civil Rights, was Secretary of the Navy for two years and was the U.S. ambassador to Ireland.

Anna Sadilek Pavelka (b. 1869 – d. 1955) – Was the prototype for the character Antonia Shimerda in Willa Cather’s novel, My Antonia.  Her unique friendship with Cather was captured in the character’s pioneer spirit and determination.

Matthew Savidge (b. 1886 – d. 1916) – A pioneer Nebraska aviator, he and his six brothers were the first Nebraska-born designers, mechanics and pilots of airplanes in the state.  Traveled the Midwest putting on aerial shows, which included stunts, aerial acrobatics and skywriting.  Died at 29 in an airplane crash.

Current members of the Nebraska Hall of Fame and year selected

Sen. George W. Norris, 1961

Willa Cather, 1962

John J. Pershing, 1963

Father Edward J. Flanagan, 1965

William (“Buffalo Bill”) Cody, 1967

William Jennings Bryan, 1971

Bess Aldrich Streeter, 1971

Medal of Honor Recipients, 1973

John G. Neihardt, 1974

Sterling Morton, 1975

Grace Abbott, 1976

Mari Sandoz, 1976

Roscoe Pound, 1976

Chief Standing Bear, 1977

Robert W. Furnas, 1980

Edward Creighton, 1982

Susette LaFlesche Tibbles, 1983

Sen. Gilbert Hitchcock, 1984

Loren Eiseley, 1986

Hartley Burr Alexander, 1988

Arthur W. Thompson, 1990

Dwight Griswold, 1993

Nathan Gold, 1996

Chief Red Cloud, 2000

Charles E. Bessey, 2007

Alvin S. Johnson, 2012

For more information about the Hall’s members, visit http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0000/fame.htm.

Climate change, 1930s-style

Climate change, 1930s-style

I found this article in a scrapbook that contained hundreds of newspaper clippings documenting the early efforts to secure approval and funding for the construction of The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s hydropower and irrigation project.  The clippings were taken from the Elwood Bulletin, but this particular article was written by D.E. Lawrence of the Lincoln Star.  It was dated Sept. 14, 1933, but what attracted my attention was the headline: “Believe Climatic Change, Despite Scientists’ Opinion.”

There you have it, climate change occurring more than 80 years ago!

The article or column (one might call it an “op-ed”) contains a description of the weather, various cloud formations, memories of past weather events, and speculation about why the weather patterns of the day differed so much from the past.  I found it highly entertaining and thought to myself, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Keep in mind that the column was written a year before the beginning of a period that produced what would become known as the “Dust Bowl” in the High Plains, a period of drought which – according to most historical accounts – began in 1934.

It is reproduced below, exactly as it was worded in the original.

“During the formal public works hearing before the Nebraska advisory board in Lincoln, when the Tri-County irrigation project was being given its preliminary presentation, one of the pioneer farmers of Gosper county told of the transformation that has taken place in cloud formation and rainfall.

“He started farming in the early (18)’80s.

“He recalled in those years when the thunder heads gathered into a majestic bank in the northwest, and sweeping down over Nebraska opened the floodgates.  Such a storm soaked the grass roots.  Usually, it began in the early evening, continuing on thru the night, and sometimes lasting as long as all the next day.

“There is not a long time resident of this state, who will not recall them.  Eventually, they terminated long periods of drouth, when a blistering sun had burned ranges and pastures, and fields until they resembled the brown of dead winter.  And in the morning, a state awakening after the storm had pounded on the roofs all night, discovered that nature had winnowed the dead grass into neat piles, and the prairies, which twenty-four hours before had seemed lifeless, had a tinge of green.  It brought a feeling of gladness which only the Nebraskans of that day can appreciate.  Frequently it come too late to save crops, but it cleared the air, washed the landscape, made life worth living once again, and generally was followed by such a period of golden sunshine that the sheer joy of the thing blotted out the recollections of disappointment and anxiety.

“A good many men have asked what became of the old fashioned thunder head banks which were a distinct and awesome spectacle belonging solely to plains country.  The weather man has insisted there is no change of real consequence in climatic conditions, that in reality periods of heavy precipitation and of drought follow in cycles.  It may be true so far as the gauge and the records reveal, but the magnificent grandeur of the old fashioned soaker, extending from one end of the state to the other, belongs to the past.

“This farmer, pleading for irrigation, mentioned rains of recent years, amounting to as much as three inches of moisture, while 50 miles away, only a sprinkle fell.  It might come down in buckets at Holdrege and pass by Hastings entirely.  The latter might be flooded, while a town in the next county failed to receive a drop of rain.  But when the old thunder bank had swept down from out of the northwest not a square foot of soil in Nebraska escaped a thorough wetting.

“The last storm of that character we can remember came in early July of 1908.  It deluged Lincoln, produced the greatest flood in the Salt creek valley since the days when the Nebraska capital was a straggling village, and lasted the whole night thru.  Early in the day, the thunder heads began gathering along the entire horizon – east, west, north and south.  They piled up, one on another, until the top most formation, great creamy mountains with black bases, seemed to meet in the center of the sky.  And then the rain began in the evening, increasing in force until hours later it seemed to come down in solid sheets.

“Webster contents himself simply by defining a thunder head as a cumulonimbus cloud.  In a bulletin of the conservation and survey division of the University of Nebraska, Mrs. Lillian S. Loveland wrote that ‘The cumulonimbus are the thunder and shower clouds which roll up in such an imposing manner and present a majestic appearance of mountainlike character.  The tops are light and fluffy, while the bases are of the dense nimbus character, from whose centers the showers of rain and hail descend.’

“The thunder head is given more exhaustive treatment in the encyclopedia.  Under the heading cumulo-nimbus, this appears:

‘Thunder clouds:  shower clouds.  Heavy masses of clouds, rising like mountains, towers or anvils, generally surrounded at the top by a veil or screen of fibrous texture, and below by nimbus-like masses of cloud.  From their base generally fall local showers of rain or snow, and sometimes hail or sleet.  The upper edges are either of cumules-like outline, and form massive summits, surrounded by delicate false cirrus-like filaments.  This last form is most common in spring showers.  The front of the thunder storm cloud sometimes shows a great arc stretching across a portion of the sky, which is uniformly lighter in color.’

“Without venturing into the technical field, unless imagination has played a trick, the Nebraska thunder head of the present day falls into the classification described as presaging a shower.  It may bring a lusty rain of local character.

“Early in the summer, the press accounts told of a movie outfit, armed with cameras, waiting for a three weeks stretch to snap pictures of huge thunder heads.  Its patience exhausted, it left in disgust, and two days later, most of the eastern section of Nebraska was visited by a strictly local rains, which were preceded by some truly magnificent thunder head formations.

“A technical construction engineer to whom the subject was broached suggested that the settlement of the prairies, notwithstanding an emphatic denial from the weather bureau, had altered the cloud formation so they no longer resembled those which belonged to the earlier history of the state.  He said that the thousands of farm homes, safeguarded with lightning rods, and the cities, had pulled the teeth of the old thunder head, until it no longer existed as it did then.  The facts hold more importance than idle speculation.  They have a direct bearing upon the future of the state, upon crops, upon farm homes.  If it is true that more and more rainfall is becoming localized, instead of being general, it is a matter in which all citizens are interested.  It may explain the unsatisfactory condition of the sub-soil moisture.  That, at least, was the view of a practical farmer, who has tilled Nebraska soil for more than fifty years.”

Hmm.  Maybe the old guy was on to something.

Central marks 75th anniversary of irrigation deliveries from Lake McConaughy

Central marks 75th anniversary of irrigation deliveries from Lake McConaughy

It was 1942.  Kingsley Dam had been closed the preceding year and Lake McConaughy was just beginning to fill.  In just under a year and a half, almost 840,000 acre-feet of water had been stored behind the dam.

This summer Central will reach a milestone:  75 years of delivering storage water from Lake McConaughy through its canal system.  In the irrigation service area (Gosper, Phelps and Kearney counties), farmers on almost 45,000 acres had signed contracts with Central for delivery of irrigation water. 

Although Central had been bringing water to the area since the spring of 1938 from a temporary diversion point on the Platte River east of Lexington, the deliveries were limited to about 3,300 acres near the river and functioned mostly as an opportunity for area farmers to learn how to best utilize water on their fields. 

Central sponsored demonstration days to show irrigation equipment and practices.  One such “irrigation school” of note was conducted on April 28-29, 1938 by Ivan Wood, an irrigation specialist from the University of Nebraska Agricultural College’s Extension Service.  Held at the Henry Peterson farm eight miles northwest of Holdrege, the school attracted an estimated 10,000 people over two days.  Wood demonstrated various instruments for leveling ground, making farm laterals, the use of canvas dams or light, steel dams for shutting off water or raising water levels in a lateral, the use of homemade lath box turnouts and how to distribute water over the field in the most practical manner.

Irrigation demonstration: Central District customers learned how to best use the newly arrived irrigation water on their farms. The first “irrigation schools” were held in 1938 on Phelps County farms and continued through the early years of the canals’ operations.

Corn yields jumped from an average of 28 bu./acre in the 1920s to more than 100 bu./acre on irrigated ground under improved farming practices during the 1940s.  The ability to irrigate was probably the most significant factor in increasing yields and producing a crop every year, even during dry periods.

But in 1942, there remained some uncertainty about how beneficial – and necessary — these new canals would be.  Most of the area had received decent rainfall during May and June, but – as often happens in Nebraska — July and August turned out to be hot and dry.  The new irrigation canals bringing water to the area proved to be a blessing for those who had delivery service contracts with Central.  Success bred success and by the end of the decade, the number of acres under irrigation doubled as more producers saw the advantages of irrigation.

A Central irrigation customer stands next to his farm lateral — equipped with wooden lath boxes through which water flowed from farm lateral to furrow (lower left corner) — and smiles at the good fortune of being able to irrigate his crops.

One such farmer was Laverne Johnson, who had started farming in the 1930s, right in the middle of one of the most brutal droughts Nebraska has ever experienced.  Johnson, who years later would serve two terms on Central’s board of directors, had been a supporter of the irrigation project during the struggle to gain approval and funds to build the project.  But from his perspective, he didn’t know if the project would be built in time to save him from ruin.

In the early 1990s, he recalled the difficulties he experienced during his first years of farming and the elation of seeing irrigation water come to his farm.

He explained that he was nearing the breaking point in the late ‘30s, having experienced crop failures and poor harvests time and again because of the lack of rainfall.

“I was almost to the point that I had to start thinking about another way to make a living, because I was just hanging on by my fingernails,” he said.  “I was excited when I learned that the project had been approved and would soon be built, but I still didn’t know if I’d be able to keep farming long enough for the water to get to me.”

Then he emotionally recalled the moment after the canals had been completed and he first saw water making its way down to his fields.

“I just dropped to my knees,” he said, “and cried like a baby because I knew at that point everything was going to be all right.”

And it was.  Over the years, Johnson would expand his farming operation, putting the additional acres under irrigation from the canals and later from wells as the groundwater table beneath the area began to rise because of recharge from the canal system.

Laverne passed away in 2001, but today the farm that he thought he was going to lose remains in his family largely because of the reliable source of water in Lake McConaughy that enabled him, and many others like him, to prosper instead of being driven from the land by the whims of nature.

George E. Johnson, irrigation and power pioneer, nominated for Nebraska Hall of Fame

George E. Johnson, irrigation and power pioneer, nominated for Nebraska Hall of Fame

Author’s note:  The following information was submitted to the Nebraska State Hall of Fame in the form of a nomination of George E. Johnson for induction into the Hall.  While I debated whether to shorten the information for inclusion in this blog article, in the end I determined that doing so would be an injustice to Mr. Johnson, his work to make Nebraska a better place, and his accomplishments throughout his career in engineering.  So, apologies to readers for the length of the entry, but — for those interested in this kind of information — it makes for fascinating reading about one of the state’s most accomplished citizens. — JB

Biographical information and narrative of his accomplishments and impact on the State of Nebraska

George Edward Johnson (March 17, 1885 – Oct. 29, 1967) was born at Wymore, Neb. He received his education in the Wymore schools until age 10 when he left home to train as an apprentice in his uncle’s foundry in Nebraska City. He became a fully qualified iron molder and machinist by the time he graduated from high school at the age of 15. By that time he had become enamored with machines and mechanics and particularly with electricity. Against his family’s wishes, Johnson enrolled at the Armour Institute in Chicago, where he received B.S. Degrees in civil engineering in 1905 and electrical engineering in 1906. He worked as a consulting engineer in several states and countries, but most of his efforts over the rest of his life were concentrated in Nebraska He applied for and was appointed state engineer in 1915 and served in that capacity until 1923. During this time, he first became aware of efforts to build the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s (CNPPID) hydro-irrigation project. He later served as chief engineer and general manager for CNPPID from 1935 to 1947, when he left the District to work in Argentina for three years. He returned to CNPPID in 1952 as chief engineer and later as a consulting engineer of the District’s Hydro Division and manager of the Steam Generating Division during and after construction of the Canaday Steam Plant (a natural-gas fueled plant located southeast of Lexington). He resigned from the District in January 1959, although he remained active as a consulting engineer for the District until fully retiring in 1964. He died in Hastings in 1967 at the age of 82 and was interred at Parkview Cemetery in Hastings.

Johnson is perhaps best known for his work with CNPPID before, during and after the construction of the hydro-irrigation project, known then as the “Tri-County Project,” which is anchored by Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy. However, he enjoyed a long and eventful career that included many other large-scale public projects in Nebraska, as well as civil and electrical engineering projects in neighboring states and in South America. He was one of the most important figures in the development of Nebraska’s public power model for providing electricity throughout the state. He served as Nebraska’s state engineer during the early part of the 20th century for the State Board of Irrigation, Highways and Drainage (an early predecessor of today’s Department of Natural Resources). While serving as state engineer, the board was renamed the Department of Public Works in 1919 and was then composed of two bureaus and one headquarters division: the Bureau of Roads and Bridges; the Bureau of Irrigation, Water Power, and Drainage; and the Motor Vehicle Records Division.

From the time Johnson started working to support the Tri-County Project in 1915 until formerly being hired in 1935, all of his time and expenses related to the project were provided without compensation, except for expenses incurred during to two trips to Washington, D.C.

Johnson’s Role with The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District

Johnson was in his first month in the state engineer’s office in April 1915 when he first learned of efforts to build an irrigation project in south-central Nebraska. George P. Kingsley and C.W. McConaughy, two early advocates of the irrigation project, visited Johnson in his Lincoln office to discuss their efforts to secure financing and approval for what would become known as the “Tri-County Project.”

As originally proposed, the project was quite simple. Water would be diverted from the Platte River into canals that would lead to area farm fields. The crop land would be flooded before and after the summer growing season when there was typically excess water in the river. Water would not be provided during the growing season; instead crops would be able to draw upon “sub-soil moisture” during the summer. Storage reservoirs were not proposed as part of the original plan. Johnson immediately recognized that such a project would never be approved or successful without plans for storage. By May he had drawn up and submitted plans to Kingsley that provided for two storage reservoirs as well as two hydroelectric plants.

Over the ensuing years, Johnson, Kingsley, McConaughy and other promoters of the irrigation project made many trips to Washington, D.C. to plead their case and to seek a federal study to correct the conclusions from a 1915 government survey that said the project was infeasible. Initially Johnson and the other Tri-County supporters attempted to convince the Bureau of Reclamation to provide the funds for the new study and to build the project as a Reclamation project.

In 1923, Johnson resigned his position as state engineer to devote more time to gaining approval for the Tri-County Project. He later wrote, “Ever since I was state engineer in 1915, I have been concerned with the effort to conserve our most valuable resource, water. Without water, the land is unproductive. With water, crops will flourish. Full utilization of the water flowing through the state for irrigation and electrical power is vital to our economy.”

The Tri-County delegation finally secured a resolution from Congress directing the Reclamation Service to conduct another survey and prepare a report on the feasibility of the project. In addition to Reclamation dollars, funds were raised by the Tri-County Supplemental Water Association by agreement with Reclamation to supplement the federal contribution. The “Smith Report,” as it became known, was favorable to the project, but a long road still lay ahead. Five different designs for the irrigation project were proposed; the fifth was a plan that called for a complete project with two reservoirs on Plum Creek impounding a total of 509,000 acre-feet of water, a hydroelectric station below each reservoir, transmission facilities for the power, and approximately 500,000 irrigated acres.

While the feasibility study was underway, Johnson and Dr. George Condra, director of the Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) at the University of Nebraska from 1921 to 1954, were evaluating several alternative sites for a reservoir. They concluded that the most suitable location was near Cedar Point on the North Platte River, the site where Kingsley Dam would eventually be constructed. But for the time being, these alternative sites were set aside.

The rest of the 1920s and early ‘30s brought one disappointment after another to Johnson, Kingsley, McConaughy and other irrigation supporters.

Meanwhile, using as a template a bill that he had drafted in Missouri to provide for the organization of municipal water and sewer districts, Johnson drafted what would become known as Senate File 310 for the 1933 session of the Nebraska Legislature. The bill provided for the creation of public power and irrigation districts in Nebraska and was eventually passed by the Legislature, despite vigorous opposition from private power interests, and signed into law.

Johnson and the other Tri-County supporters continued to press on toward the vision they shared for the future of Nebraska. On July 24, 1933, the Nebraska Department of Roads and Irrigation approved a petition to organize the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, although many hurdles remained to be cleared before the project became a reality. The remainder of the year was spent preparing an application for funds to the newly created Public Works Administration (PWA). The state PWA board approved the application in November and sent it to Washington.

It was too late. PWA funds had been depleted and Tri-County supporters were told they would have to wait for the next session of Congress.

However, while Tri-County struggled to gain a foothold, another irrigation project was trying to secure a Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) loan. The Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District (also known as the Sutherland Project) and the Tri-County Project thus became competitors for funds as well as for Platte River water rights. The legal and political battles that followed were frequent and intense.

The Sutherland Project was given final state approval in June 1933 and its application was transferred from the RFC to the PWA. It was one step ahead of the Tri-County Project. However, Tri-County had already established a prior claim for a water right, while the Sutherland Project had yet to secure the necessary water rights. The main protest from Sutherland was that there would not be enough water in the Platte River for two irrigation projects. Sutherland repeatedly challenged Tri-County’s water rights, but to no avail.

Tri-County and Sutherland finally reached a compromise water rights agreement on Jan. 13, 1934, which resulted in water rights for both districts. Meanwhile, the PWA continued to study the Tri-County project and had given preliminary approval to the proposal, although there was some doubt about the project’s power generation claims. The PWA engineers also questioned if there would be a sufficient market in Nebraska for the electricity. Johnson went to Washington, rented a hotel room by the month and prepared to stay as long as necessary to convince the PWA that their concerns were unfounded.

During this time, to help answer the PWA questions, a Tri-County power market survey completed in February, 1934 showed 24 communities interested in Tri-County power.

While Tri-County leaders continually battled opposition from supporters of the Sutherland project and the City of Grand Island, opposition sprung up in a surprising place: the area which was to receive the benefits of the irrigation water, particularly Phelps County. Many farmers were skeptical that the project was needed in the first place. They also feared that the project would be too expensive, that it would bring about higher taxes and that the project would never be able to pay for itself. Project opponents, particularly private power companies, were quick to instigate and play up these fears.

Indeed, with rainfall generally plentiful at the time, it was difficult to make a case for an irrigation project. However, the 1930s ushered in a period of drought and depression that gripped the nation, circumstances that may have been a boon to Tri-County supporters. They pointed to withering corn fields and dusty topsoil being blown into drifts and said, in effect, “This could all be prevented; the project could offset the effects of drought and help this area prosper in the face of drought.”

Another important development occurred in April 1934. PWA engineers visiting Nebraska suggested that a dam and reservoir be built on the North Platte River near Keystone – at the site that Johnson and Dr. Condra had determined to be ideal in 1922 — instead of the two Plum Creek Reservoirs proposed in Tri-County’s plan. The dam would store enough water to supply the Sutherland project, the Tri-County project and, said the engineers, some future irrigation projects.

Tri-County immediately filed for storage rights behind the proposed dam.

The Keystone (Kingsley) Dam proposal probably saved the Tri-County project. The PWA had decided to reject the project, but the project was transferred to a special review board which endorsed it with the new dam site. But an obstacle remained: the PWA still had no funds to provide.

Regardless of the review board’s assessment, the PWA’s engineering and finance divisions had rejected the project because they believed that costs would far exceed submitted estimates and the power generation proposal was “technically unsound.” Johnson submitted a new application with revised cost estimates to the PWA on Jan. 23, 1935. The board recommended that a way be found to avoid duplication of the power market served by Sutherland.

Johnson’s application on Tri-County’s behalf was again revised and submitted to the PWA Power Division on Aug. 1, 1935. It included a diversion dam near Keystone, the Plum Creek reservoirs and power plants. The cost was estimated at $33.6 million.

Three weeks later, Johnson submitted Tri-County’s final application to the PWA. In an effort to contain costs, the Keystone reservoir proposal had been dropped and the size of the three power plants had been reduced. In addition, plans to build the Plum Creek reservoirs were resurrected.

The long-awaited approval of the Tri-County project came on Aug. 24, 1935. The power division of the PWA recommended approval of a $20 million loan to the project after Tri-County’s water rights were validated.

As approved, the project would bring water to 305,000 acres from just west of Bertrand in Gosper County to 10 miles east of Minden in Kearney County. Another 144,000 acres in Adams County would also receive water.

Celebrations erupted throughout south-central Nebraska when the news was made known on Sept. 26, 1935. A parade, complete with bands and floats, was staged in Hastings as tribute was paid to Tri-County’s leaders. The people of Adams County had been among the project’s staunchest supporters, but a turn of events denied them the water for which they had worked so hard. The Sutherland project continued its opposition even after President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially signed the approval for the $20 million loan on Sept. 18, 1935. In addition, Nebraska’s six large private power companies opposed the Tri-County loan by bringing suit against the PWA.

The opposition from the Sutherland supporters and the power companies resulted in significant changes to the original water claims, the most important of which was the PWA’s recommendation in November 1935 that a large reservoir on the North Platte River be constructed after all, instead of the Plum Creek reservoirs.

Tri-County leaders accepted the PWA’s recommendation and the two Plum Creek Reservoirs were dropped in favor of one large reservoir at the Keystone site. Johnson also drew up plans that would increase electrical generating capacity.

Opponents of the project tried one more time to stop its construction, filing an appeal in the Nebraska Supreme Court in December 1935 in opposition to the granting of Tri-County’s water rights.

The court’s ruling in the case came on June 29, 1936. Although the court refused to reject the water rights outright, it did rule that the project could not divert water out of the Platte River watershed, thereby eliminating more than half of the lands which were to receive irrigation water, including all of the acres in Adams County. Repeated attempts by Tri-County leaders to have the acres reinstated were unsuccessful. In subsequent years, several legislative attempts to revise Nebraska’s irrigation laws to permit trans-basin diversions also failed before the Supreme Court ruling was overturned in 1980 and such diversions legalized (Little Blue NRD v. Lower Platte NRD).

Construction of the Tri-County project began on March 13, 1936 with ground-breaking ceremonies on the Phelps County Canal, followed by simultaneous work on Kingsley Dam, the North Platte Diversion Dam, a 76-mile-long Supply Canal, three downstream hydroelectric plants and the irrigation canals and laterals. Most of the construction on the project’s works was finished during 1940 and water began flowing into the Supply Canal in November 1940. The first power was generated at the Jeffrey plant on Jan. 5, 1941. Johnson looked over U.S. Sen. George Norris’ (a steadfast supporter of the project from the beginning) shoulder as the senator pulled the switch to bring the hydroplant on-line for the first time.

Kingsley Dam was closed shortly thereafter allowing storage in Lake McConaughy to begin. The dam was officially dedicated at ceremonies on July 22, 1941 and the first irrigation water from Lake McConaughy was delivered that same year. Irrigation delivery and related operations began in earnest in 1942 and the project was officially completed in 1943.

As the project’s major facilities were completed, they had to be named. In recognition of Johnson’s tireless efforts to see the project through to completion, Tri-County’s board of directors decreed that two hydroplants – Johnson No. 1 and Johnson No. 2 – and the regulating reservoir above them (Johnson Lake) should be named in his honor.

The total cost of the Project was $43 million, paid by a $19 million PWA grant and a $24 million federal loan (the federal debt was paid off when the loan was refinanced in 1972; the refinanced portion of the debt was paid off in 1995). The Depression-era construction project provided jobs to more than 1,500 people, but it was not simply a “make-work” project. It was the culmination of many years of planning and hard work by George Johnson, Fred Kingsley, Charles McConaughy, Sen. Norris and many others. It was the realization of the hopes and dreams of a group of irrigation pioneers who foresaw the prosperity irrigation water would bring to south-central Nebraska.

(Note: Research into media accounts of the development and construction of the “Tri-County Project,” which was the subject of many headlines in newspapers across the state in the 1930s and ‘40s, frequently mentioned Johnson as the chief engineer of the project, but his significant role was played out mostly behind the scenes. Johnson was not a “self-promoter,” rather he was an engineer who engaged in the physical and technical aspects of a project’s construction, whether it was the hydro-irrigation project, a plant to convert surplus grain to fuel, or military air bases in the state. That said, when necessary, he could assume the role of a lobbyist. In fact, a contemporary once called him “the slickest lobbyist in Washington.” Johnson disputed this designation by saying, “I did not see myself that way. True, I was lobbying to bring industries to the State of Nebraska. However, my methods were successful not because I was “slick,” but because I used basic engineering methods. I did not present “argument,” instead I marshaled the facts, as I would in an engineering report, so that the conclusion was almost inevitable considering the facts presented. Then, I always saw that these facts reached the right people at the right time. In these efforts, I was greatly aided by Senator Norris and his staff.”)

Early Career

Johnson’s early career, between graduation from the Armour Institute in 1906 and 1915 when he was appointed state engineer, was an eclectic mix of projects on which he honed his civil and electrical engineering skills.

He first worked in the electrical department at Swift’s Packing Co., in St. Joseph, Mo., then at the Columbian Electrical Co., designing power plants and distribution systems for cities and towns that were customers of the company.

In 1907, he worked on his own as a consulting engineer in Holton, Kan., where he designed and supervised the construction of an electrical generating plant and distribution system and a water and sewer system for the town.

Two years later, he moved to Sabetha, Kan., where he led similar water and power projects in addition to laying out a paved road system in the town. He also designed a power transmission line system from Sabetha to nearby small towns. Finally he designed and supervised the installation of a steam heating system, using the exhaust steam from the newly constructed power plant to heat buildings in the town’s business district.

In 1911, Johnson took his skills to Falls City, Neb., where he was involved with expanding the power and water system for the town. He also laid out plans for construction of a new sewer system and paving the community’s streets.

It was during this period that Johnson first encountered opposition from private power companies to his work to improve the water supply and sewer systems and electrical service in Horton, Kan. He later saw similar opposition in Atcheson, Kan., where the private power company owners perceived his work as a threat to their business. He implemented a process in Horton through which bonds were issued and, after the citizens voted to issue the bonds, the city took over the properties for water and power. He repeated this formula in Atcheson, despite interference with his efforts from the private power companies.

From that time on, firm in his belief that no one should realize excessive profits from the sale of such essentials as power and water, Johnson devoted virtually all of his work to public service, often times working without remuneration when he felt such an arrangement was necessary.

State Highway System

Johnson decided to pursue the position of state engineer in 1915. World War I had interfered with most municipal engineering work due to higher bond rates that made it difficult for municipalities to secure favorable financing for public projects. He was appointed to the position from among 14 other candidates and was reappointed in July 1916 by Gov. Keith Neville, Attorney General Willis Reed, and Land Commissioner Grant Shumway, who comprised the State Board of Irrigation, Highways and Drainage.

Also in July 1916, the first Federal Aid Road Bill was passed by Congress to make allotments to the states to construct interconnected highways between the states. Working with Deputy State Engineer Roy Cochrane, the federal government and county commissioners in several counties, they planned the routes for the State Highway System. The United States entered WWI in 1917, and Cochrane left his position with the state to join the Army as a captain and embarked for France. By that time, much of the work to lay out the highway system had been done, including field engineering, plans and specifications, but the actual awarding of contracts was delayed until after the war ended. Shortly thereafter, the state began to award contracts, a process that was in high gear over a period of several months. During this process, Johnson was instrumental in developing the state-federal dollar matching program for highways, which later became standard across the nation.

At the time, Johnson was a member of the executive committee of the American Association of State Highway Officials and a member of the Federal Highway Advisory Board. After the war ended, only $75 million had been allotted for highway construction across the United States. Johnson and the heads of the other highway departments convinced President Woodrow Wilson that another $200 million would be sufficient to begin awarding contracts for construction, which at the same time, would help alleviate a severe unemployment issue.

By the end of his fourth two-year term as state engineer in 1923, more than 3,000 miles of highways had been improved and the state highway department had been expanded to employ more than 600 people. The State Highway System in Nebraska at the time consisted of about 6,500 miles of roads.

Johnson worked with Nebraska county officials to set up a system so that roads were laid out beginning at the county seats and extended out to the county lines on the north, south, east and west. This was necessary to convince the rural members of the Legislature (who were in the majority at the time) that road improvements would also benefit farmers. He would later write that Nebraska’s system, as created, generally carried more farm traffic per mile than any roads in the country.

After acquiring surplus equipment from the Army, the roads department set about grading operations in preparation for the construction of gravel roads, a vast improvement over the dirt roads they were replacing. Johnson worked to secure equipment to develop both dry and wet gravel pits and began the program for graveling roads. Johnson worked with Dr. George Condra to develop a process to mix and spread the gravel in different sections, according to local soil types. Johnson later noted that the same method was used up through at least the 1960s.

When Johnson became state engineer in 1915, automobiles were rare and roads on which they could travel without difficulty even more rare. By the time he left the state engineer’s office in 1923, most of the state had come to rely on the automobile in one way or another. Traveling by horse and buggy had become a thing of the past, the state had a functional road and highway system, and the State Highway Department had been created. Johnson’s contributions to these developments – in terms of securing legislation and funds and actually planning and building the roads – were significant.

State Capitol Building

The Legislature authorized construction of the Nebraska State Capitol during Johnson’s tenure as state engineer. A Capitol Commission was organized and Johnson was appointed a member, in a capacity that Johnson would later refer to as a “watchdog” over the construction process and expenditure of state funds. Following the advice of Tom Kimbell, an Omaha architect who was hired as an adviser, the commission held a preliminary competition allowing all architects in Nebraska to submit plans for construction of the building. The winner was given the right to compete in the final competition with other architects from across the nation. The final award was made to Bertram Goodhue of New York.

After the award was made and plans submitted (and taxes were raised to pay for the building), Johnson spent considerable time making studies of the size and arrangement of the offices, Legislative chambers, the Supreme Court, and State Library within the building. During this process, he considered the function of the offices and their relationship with one another to maximize the efficiency of movement by employees between the offices with which they had frequent contact.

In 1922, as work progressed on the building, the contractor providing the limestone started shipping large amounts of material that did not conform to the original specifications (No. 1 Bedford Limestone with crush strength of no less than 8,000 lbs. per square inch). Some was No. 2 limestone, part of it No. 3 and part was below the lowest grade of less than 4,000 lbs./sq. in. Past experience had determined that the soft limestone would deteriorate fairly quickly in Nebraska’s climate and Johnson refused to approve the contractor’s claims for payment. However, he found that the limestone had been approved by the representative of the architect and the claim for payment had been approved by the clerk representing the architect at the building site.

In addition, certain other specifications had not been revised to meet with the Capitol Commission’s approval, such as the materials for casement windows. In some cases, the specifications were written such that a single company manufacturing certain items was the only one that could meet the specifications. During a discussion with the architect, Johnson asked if anyone was getting a commission for adopting the use of their equipment or materials for the project. His reply was, “Certainly, it’s common practice.” After discussing his concerns about the issue with the other members of the Capitol Commission, the commission chose not to pursue the matter.

Johnson then went to the Legislature with a joint resolution asking for an investigation into the practices of the architect and contractor. He filed a statement with 26 charges against the firms, and the Capitol Commission added two more charges. The results of the investigation and findings of a committee convened for that purpose were published in the House and Senate Journals for the 1923 session of the Legislature. The investigation’s resulted in significant cost savings for the State and the quality of the capitol building construction was enhanced.

However, while some of the stone that had been laid was removed and replaced, during subsequent changes extremely large mortar joints were made in the walls of the building. Johnson stated that these joints had been shown by experience to shrink in Nebraska’s climate as the mortar cured. Johnson was concerned that water would get into the joints and the freeze-thaw process would cause the mortar to spall, or crumble and fall out. His concerns went unheeded at the time.

Since nothing was done to correct the size of the joints, the State was subsequently faced with a continual task of refilling the joints over the decades after the building was completed. In fact, a 1995 inspection of the entire exterior surface of the Capitol was conducted by consultants, who determined that Nebraska’s seasonal temperature extremes and resulting freeze-thaw cycle had caused extensive movement and cracking in the stone building face and roof system sufficient to require major reconstruction of these critical building components. Johnson had warned of the inadequate joints during the construction process, but no corrective action was taken. Decades later, the need arose to repoint the mortar joints throughout most of the exterior of the building, a project that started in 1997.

Contract Work after Resigning from the State Engineer’s Position

Johnson took a three-month vacation to Spirit Lake, Iowa after leaving the state engineer’s position, one of the few real vacations he admitted to taking over his career. He then proceeded to organize the Economical Bridge Association, a company that built bridges and sold bridge material and lumber. His company built large bridges over the Platte River at Cozad and Gothenburg and was involved in construction of another Platte River bridge between Omaha and Plattsmouth.

The Omaha/Plattsmouth bridge was constructed on the basis that promoters of the bridge would take tolls until the cost of construction was paid and then the bridge would be turned over to the State of Nebraska without charge. The company also built two bridges over the Arkansas River in Ford County, Kan., plus another 22 steel bridges over tributaries to the Smoky Hill River in Ellsworth County, Kan.

Johnson sold the bridge company in 1928 and accepted a position with Blackmer Post, LeClede Christie and Evans and Howard in St. Louis. It was during this time that “we secured a law in the Missouri Legislature which was referred to as the basic law that was used for Senate File 310 in the Nebraska Legislature.” This law not only authorized the creation of districts and the construction of works in each district, but it also provided that a tax levy could be made sufficient to cover the cost of the preliminary engineering work. One of his first duties was to oversee engineering during the process of building a new sewer system in St. Louis using vitrified clay pipe. The stock market crash of 1929 caused the project to be delayed until the Public Works Administration was established and government funds were available to complete the project. By that time, Johnson was heavily involved in the development of the hydroelectric and irrigation projects in Nebraska and did not return to St. Louis.

War Plants and Ammunition Depots

Johnson played a significant role in attracting defense and munitions factories to Nebraska during World War II. In his own words:

“During the year of 1941 there were a large number of persons moving out of the State of Nebraska to other states to work on defense plants which were being located in these states. Mr. Burton Thompson, Mr. Howard Pratt and others requested me to go into the problem of securing some of these defense plants in Nebraska, especially one at Hastings for the purpose of stopping this migration. As we had a considerable amount of surplus power at that time, I was satisfied if some of these plants could be located in Nebraska, we would very materially increase revenues to our hydro districts without increasing costs. I did considerable work in 1941, in 1942 extending into 1943, to secure defense and war plants and a part of the aviation program for the State of Nebraska. This included all of the defense and war plants and aviation fields located in Nebraska by the government with the exception of the Bomber Plant at Omaha and the Lincoln Airbase. The only substantial help I had from anyone in Nebraska in securing these defense plants, war plants and this aviation program was Carl Marsh of McCook, Lloyd Thomas of Kearney, who helped with the aviation program, and Emil Placek of Wahoo, who assisted with the Mead Ordnance Plant. Senator Norris helped in Washington with all the programs in the state with the exception of the Hastings Navy Ammunition Depot. He was in the hospital during this period and was unable to help us.”

For most of 1941 — and with the blessing of CNPPID’s board of directors — Johnson devoted about half of his time to working on various defense projects, until the war started after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7. At that point, the plants were no longer referred to as “Defense Plants;” they became known as “War Plants.”

Johnson started by contacting Sen. Norris, who said he would do all he could to help located munitions plants in Nebraska. One of the primary factors Nebraska had in its favor was the recent completion of the hydropower system, which meant that plentiful and inexpensive power supplies would be available to the facilities. Working with Emil Placek of Wahoo and Sen. Norris, the first Army ammunition plant that was secured in Nebraska was located at Mead. Johnson had tried to have the plant located near Hastings where it could help alleviate the exodus of workers to other states’ military ammunition plants. However, the Army Corps of Engineers selected Mead because of its proximity to Omaha and the city’s surplus labor supply.

The Nebraska contingent also succeeded in attracting a second ordnance plant to a site near Grand Island which had ready access to sufficient water supplies for the plant. Johnson also worked on bringing “powder plants” to Fremont and Columbus, which ended up being built in other states after premature “local information leaks” about the prospective plants in each of the cities angered the military planners.

Johnson eventually was successful in bringing a War Plant — the Naval Ammunition Depot — to Hastings after working closely with several Naval officers in Washington. Among these was Chief of Ammunition Commander R.W. Holsinger, who was traveling by rail to various sites in states near Nebraska to review potential sites for ammunition plants. Johnson, in Washington at the time, contacted Cmdr. Holsinger on a Monday about the Hastings site, but was told the commander was leaving by train on Wednesday and could not change his travel plans unless an application for siting a plant was filed with his office by 9 o’clock Tuesday morning. Previously, Johnson had prepared plans for a chemical warfare plant at the site near Hastings. He worked quickly to adapt the plant to the Navy’s specifications and submitted the application on time the next morning.

Johnson then traveled to Grand Island to meet Cmdr. Holsinger’s train, drove him to the site near Hastings and eventually convinced the Naval officer that the site was perfectly suited for the Navy’s needs. Within two days of Cmdr. Holsinger’s visit, it was announced that an original allotment of $90 million would be made for constructing the ammunition plant at Hastings.

Securing these government expenditures in the state, which amounted to approximately $400 million, not only helped the state from the standpoint of bringing in additional buying power for its citizens, thus benefiting local merchants, but increased the revenues of the hydro districts and helped solidify their status during the early days of operation.

Military Aviation Fields in Nebraska

In the early 1940s, while Johnson was working to bring defense and war plants to Nebraska, he was approached by Sen. Norris to help with a request from municipal representatives from McCook and Kearney to attract Army Air Corps bases to Nebraska. He arranged for a meeting with Under Secretary of War Robert Patterson, who was instrumental in the mobilization of the armed forces preparatory to and during World War II. Johnson’s goal was to convince the under secretary that Nebraska was an ideal site for air bases, rather than expanding operations in the southern United States where weather was judged to be better for flight training.

Johnson was given 20 minutes with Patterson to state his case. He informed the under secretary that he had been studying the Army’s training regimen for pilots, which included “more good days for primary training in the southern states than there were in Nebraska and other northern states, and it was more economical to provide training in warm weather states where trainees could put in more time because better weather conditions and advance more rapidly.”

Johnson wrote in his memoirs:

“I told him that that the Army was making the same mistake they had previously made by training the fliers in southern Texas and Florida. The program they were following was to start out the trainee on making circles around the air field and later out across part of the country and then come back and land at the airport from which they had started. From the experience we had in training students at Lincoln (Johnson had established a flight school in Lincoln shortly after WWI), the students trained in that manner would soon learn that when they reached a certain point from the field at a certain altitude, all they had to do was pull back on the throttle and they would land at the right place, learning very little about making landings under different conditions. As all the flights were made in practically the same weather, they did not advance much in their training.”

He also pointed out that pilots trained in this manner and later assigned to fly airmail planes for the U.S. Post Office had a poor safety record and experienced many crashes because they had been trained to fly only in favorable weather conditions. When they encountered poor flying conditions, they were more likely to crash than if they had previous experience with inclement weather.

Johnson suggested that in an expanded training program, the trainees could start at southern airfields and when they advanced to better, faster airplanes, they could be trained to take off and land under different conditions typically experienced in Nebraska. They would also be able to fly from airfield to airfield in Nebraska, taking off and landing at different locations that would require the pilot to calculate and think for himself each time under different conditions.

At this point in the meeting, Patterson halted Johnson, rose from the table to summon some more Army officers, and had Johnson repeat the ideas and suggestion that he had just made. The 20-minute meeting turned into a three-hour meeting as Johnson made his case for locating air bases in Nebraska.

As a result, the Army expanded its training program to add major fields at Kearney, McCook, Harvard, Fairmont, Lincoln and Scottsbluff. Together with the ammunition plants and depots, the addition of the Army air fields in Nebraska brought greatly increased investments into Nebraska’s war-time economy.

Omaha Industrial Alcohol Plant

In January 1942, while Johnson was working to attract ammunition plants to Nebraska, he also stated that it was “evident that it was going to be necessary to very materially increase the (ethyl) alcohol production in the United States for war purposes.” The alcohol could be used for industrial purposes, including synthetic rubber manufacturing, and to blend with gasoline to produce a high-octane motor fuel. One of the incentives for increased production, according to Johnson, was the large stocks of corn and other grain that were in storage, either in bins or simply in piles on the ground.

With the Japanese having taken over much of the territory in the South Pacific where sugar cane production was prevalent and German submarines interfering with trade between the United States and Cuba, again where sugar cane was produced in abundance, alternate sources of crops to produce what is now commonly referred to as ethanol were needed. In addition, acquisition of rubber from sources in Southeast Asia, the main commercial source of latex for rubber making, had also been disrupted by the war.

Despite learning that the chemical division of General Motors Corporation had determined that only an additional 150 million gallons of ethyl alcohol per year would be sufficient, Johnson’s conversations with other industrial representatives, including the Rubber Reserve Board, led him to the conclusion that the government’s requirements would exceed 600 million gallons per year. Farm organizations in the country were anxious to help fill that need. He also surmised that, if alcohol plants were built to assist the war effort, they would be in place after the war ended to provide a market for surplus grain and help bolster crop prices.

A bill passed without dissent in the U.S. Senate in 1942 that would provide for an allocation of equipment and material to manufacture synthetic rubber from grain products. Although the bill was vetoed by President Roosevelt, he asked Congress to take no further action on the bill until a report by a specially appointed committee could be completed regarding the feasibility of using domestically produced alcohol in the process. Known as the Baruch Report, it subsequently recommended that plants be immediately constructed in the Midwest – near the primary areas for grain production — on navigable streams to manufacture alcohol from grain.

Subsequently, and after a conversation with the director of the War Production Board, Johnson revised one of five initial applications for alcohol plants in Nebraska to convert a former power plant in Omaha to the production of industrial alcohol. Within a week of learning that the board’s wanted to build just one, rather than five plants and combine all production into that single plant, Johnson prepared an application and a redesigned plan for a facility that was capable of producing 50,000 gallons of alcohol per day.

When the application was filed, he was told that the government would require changes to the plans necessary to facilitate production of 100,000 gallons per day. Within another week, Johnson revised and submitted his plans which were accepted by the board and approved by the President.

Authorization was received just one year and two days after the Johnson submitted his original request for an allocation to build an alcohol production plant. Using mostly second-hand materials, the plant was constructed and went on-line within one year of receiving final authorization.

It was the first time in the United States that industrial alcohol was made through a continuous process, starting with unloading the grain from rail cars and ending with placement of the alcohol in tank cars. The mash, or animal feed, that resulted from the process was also loaded into train cars for distribution to area producers. Another by-product of the process was corn oil, which was later marketed as Mazola Oil. Other uses included manufacture of a soap stock from the residue of the corn germ and malt syrup (300,000 lbs./day) which could be used to help alleviate the shortage of sugar for sweetener during the war.

The Omaha Alcohol Plant was one of the larger consumers of electricity generated at Nebraska’s hydroelectric plants. Immediately upon starting this plant, the demand charges of the hydros to the Nebraska Power Company – a private power company in Omaha until being purchased by the public power districts in 1946 — was increased an extra $5,000 per month or $60,000 per year (about $915,500 in 2016 dollars); in addition to the Districts being paid for the energy used which had previously been sold as surplus or dump power without demand charge, this one plant was worth $60,000 per year to the hydro districts from the day of its starting operation. The other war plants and air bases all helped in proportion to the power used.

Over the last six months the Omaha plant was operated for the government, it produced products at the lowest cost and at the most economical level of all alcohol plants in the United States.

Johnson later wrote that he testified before a Congressional Committee about the need to stabilize agriculture in the Midwest as part of a solid economic foundation:

“… I explained how we were sending out most of our raw materials and buying finishing materials. I also explained that to build up the maximum economy of our people, it was necessary to manufacture more of the things we need from the raw materials we produced. It was also necessary to take care of our surplus in an economical manner, and if the surplus was taken care of, the farmers could be allowed to raise all of the crops they wanted to raise without restriction, and the only control would be the amount of farm crops that would go into the manufacturing of alcohol for motor fuel. This should be controlled by Department of Agriculture, also the price that was to be received for alcohol for motor fuel should be controlled by the Department of Agriculture, so the manufacturers of alcohol would not be given a monopoly without control.”

Johnson was one of the principle early supporters of a movement – which would take many decades to coalesce – that advocated the construction of alcohol plants to produce industrial alcohol from agricultural products to power internal combustion engines. At the same time, the plants would benefit farmers and the rural economy by creating an alternative to government programs that reduced acres or paid subsidies to farmers to not grow crops. Even as early as the 1940s, his idea drew strong opposition from the oil interests which considered ethyl alcohol a threat to the industry’s motor fuel monopoly.

He sold his interest in the plant in 1948 after he organized an engineering company and entered into a contract with the government of Argentina to develop two rivers for hydroelectric power and irrigation.

Engineering Work in Argentina

Johnson was originally approached by a representative of the Argentine government to assist with the development of an alcohol plant – for many of the same reasons Johnson had enunciated – in 1946. Joel Soler, commercial attaché for the Argentine ambassador had heard Johnson’s testimony about the importance of industrial and agricultural production to a country’s, and its people’s, well-being. By September, Johnson had prepared plans and specifications for an alcohol plant similar to that which was operating in Omaha. At the time he presented his plans, he spoke with several government representatives about the development of their natural resources, including the development of hydropower, before they would be in a position to construct large industrial manufacturing plants. Argentina at the time imported most of its fuel, including coal, oil and gasoline, which made it difficult to operate manufacturing plants to compete with the countries that were supplying its fuel.

The next year, Johnson met with the head of a purchasing commission for Argentina in New York. The official informed Johnson that the country was ready to proceed with a five-year program that included development of certain natural resources, including hydropower and storage for irrigation projects.

In April 1947, Johnson traveled to Buenos Aires to meet with representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and with President Juan Peron. At the close of these meetings, an offer was extended for Johnson to assemble a team of engineers and move to Mendoza, Argentina. He was told that they would be able to choose any location that they wished along the east side of the Andes Mountains for development of water resources. After examining the area for three days, he selected the Mendoza and San Juan Rivers.

Johnson returned to the United States, where he resigned his position with CNPPID and began making preparations to build dams and hydroplants in Argentina. Eventually he formed a company of about 90 employees – some of whom had worked with him to build CNPPID’s project – and they set about doing all of the preliminary work necessary to build dams, storage reservoirs and hydroplants.

In addition to that work, his employees began investigating the possibility of developing other natural resources. During those investigations, they found deposits of coal, silver, copper, bentonite, phosphorus and all of the elements necessary to create high-grade cement.

However, due to political and economic instability in Argentina beginning in 1950, Johnson found it necessary to sell his share in the company he had organized to local interests and to return to the United States.

Purchase of Private Power Companies in Nebraska: Formation of Public Power Districts

Johnson’s biographer wrote that the early days of public power in Nebraska “… required a man with vision, as well as electrical and civil engineering experience, resourcefulness, and the knack for getting things done. He had all of those qualities. The greatest passion in his life was to bring low-cost electric power and effective irrigation to the people of Nebraska.”

His work to promote and develop the “Tri-County Project” was an outlet for his energies and served him well later in the development of the Nebraska Public Power System.

Johnson played an important role in the purchase of Nebraska’s private power companies by the state’s public power districts between 1937 and 1946.

At first, the hydropower districts (Platte Valley, Loup and Central (or “Tri-County”)) tried to market their electricity to the private power companies, but the private companies refused to pay a price that that would even equal the cost of production. The private companies, which had little interest in serving rural areas because of the lack of profit potential, had tried to prevent the formation and operation of the public power districts and were averse to doing anything that would help the public power districts succeed. However, a few minor sales contracts were finalized during these initial phases in 1938.

For reasons associated with the bond market and interest rates, the Federal Works Agency suggested that the hydropower districts organize a separate district for the purchase of the private power companies. The Consumers Public Power District was created in 1939 as a result of this suggestion. The property of the private power companies was gradually purchased by Consumers and transferred by a lease-purchase agreement to the public hydropower districts.

The operating agreement among the three hydropower districts set up the operations of the transmission systems belonging to the districts into a grid system known as the Nebraska Public Power System. The manager of each hydropower district made up the board of managers for NPPS and Johnson was chairman of the board. The function of the board was to jointly operate the transmission system, the power plants that had been purchased from the private companies, construction of additional facilities, and to arrange for power sales.

Formation of Rural Electrification Administration (REA) Districts

The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve isolated rural areas of the United States. The funding was channeled through cooperative electric power companies, most of which still exist today. The Act created the Rural Electrification Administration which oversaw implementation of the Act.

Johnson and others began working on organization of REA districts in Nebraska as soon as the Act was passed. At the time, he was spending most of his time in Washington to secure approval of CNPPID’s project. He gathered post road maps from each county, and maps showing the location of existing power lines from the Nebraska Railway Commission. With this information, he began to study the best way to lay out electric and transmission service for Nebraska’s REA districts. In this manner, he designed transmission systems for several REAs, including the systems in Platte, Lancaster and Polk counties. He also helped organize districts in a 12-county area in south-central Nebraska.

In the end, the rapid development of the REA districts was of tremendous value to the hydropower districts as there was almost immediately sufficient demand for the generation from the hydroelectric plants to serve the many rural farmsteads and ranches that were being added to the electric grid. The rapid growth in demand for power – particularly in rural Nebraska – contradicted the claims by the private power companies that the state would never need the additional power being provided by the hydropower districts. The swift construction of transmission facilities to deliver the power to farms, ranches and small towns reinforced Johnson’s steadfast belief that electricity would greatly improve the quality of life for all Nebraskans.

Robert E. Firth wrote in his book, “Public Power in Nebraska,” “No man is more important in the history of public power in Nebraska than George E. Johnson.” Indeed, he was among the giants in public power in Nebraska at the time.

Canaday Steam Plant

Upon returning to the United States after his time in Argentina, Johnson renewed his association with CNPPID and was named the District’s chief engineer in 1952. He was appointed manager of the Steam Division in 1957, which was created in preparation for building and operating the Canaday Steam Plant.

In the mid-1950s, it had become apparent that Nebraska needed additional generating facilities. Studies started in 1955 to investigate the construction of the natural-gas fired power plant southeast of Lexington and adjacent to CNPPID’s Supply Canal. The site next to the Supply Canal’s source of cooling water and the proximity to existing powerlines (although several would need to be upgraded) and natural gas pipelines, as well as the underlying soils, were judged optimal for construction.

Johnson was placed in charge of designing and constructing the plant, as well as training the personnel to operate the plant after its completion. He supervised construction of the 100-megawatt plant which went on-line in May 1958 to help meet the state’s growing demand for electricity.

The plant, one of the largest in Nebraska at the time, was finished ahead of schedule and cost about $16 million, $1 million less than had been estimated. These savings were realized largely because Johnson decided that it would be best not to hire a “prime contractor” as was the typical practice. Instead, at the age of 71, Johnson decided that he would assume these duties. He was responsible for selecting and coordinating 32 contractors and 40 separate contracts.

Before construction had even begun, 26 of the state’s rural electric districts had signed contracts to buy power generated at the power plant, a significant development in convincing the Rural Electric Administration to loan money for the plant’s construction.

Other Activities

Johnson was also interested in the potential for modern means of transportation, including the automobile and the airplane. In 1909, he was one of the first businessmen in Nebraska to buy an automobile to make traveling quicker and easier (and in doing so came to the realization that the state’s roads were in dire need of improvement). He was pleased with the first automobile he purchased, a Chalmers four-cylinder vehicle, because of its reliability and considered it a vast improvement over the horse-and-buggy mode of transportation that was common at the time. As with most early automobile owners, he was his own mechanic and steadfastly refused to allow anyone else to work on his car.

He learned to fly in 1926. He took flying lessons in Lincoln and, after making his first solo flight, he purchased a Lincoln Standard bi-plane. Shortly thereafter, he bought the aviation school where he had trained to fly, the same school at which Charles Lindbergh had learned to fly. Over the years, he would own and fly several airplanes, the last of which was a Travelair with an enclosed cabin and a 200-horsepower Wright Whirlwind engine, the same engine that Lindbergh had in the “Spirit of St. Louis” plane used to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Johnson became the first businessman in the state to regularly fly his own airplane for business purposes. As with his automobiles, he was always his own mechanic for the planes he used for business. No one else was allowed to tinker with his planes or their engines. In those early days, when there were few, if any, air fields near the places Johnson wished to travel for business, flying often meant landing where no airplane had previously landed, often in a farmer’s pasture.

The first airmail flight to Lincoln landed at his field, which was located on South 14th Street north of Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery. He also built the first hangar on the site that is now the Lincoln Airport.

Johnson also took an interest in radio. The radio age was in its infancy and, as with all things technological, the new field of radio-wave communication piqued his interest. He built the most advanced amateur radio station in Nebraska in 1920 with the latest equipment available, all personally purchased from a radio supply store in Chicago. He erected two towers, one 80 feet tall and the other 60 feet in high with an antenna between them. He conducted many experiments with radio in the ensuing years and it was from this station that Governor Samuel McKelvie made the first radio broadcast by a governor of the state. In 1922-23, weather and farm market reports were being broadcast from the station for the Nebraska State Department of Agriculture.

Memberships

Besides being a member of the State Capitol Commission and the Federal Highway Advisory Board, Johnson was a member of a number of state and national electrical and civil engineering societies, the Society of American Military Engineers, the Nebraska State Water Conservation Congress, the International Board of Technical Engineers, and was a charter member of the Hastings Planning Commission. In 1961 the University of Nebraska Board of Regents presented Johnson with its highest non-academic honor for distinguished service – the Nebraska Builder Award – in recognition of his “conspicuously effective leadership in the fields of engineering and administration.”

Perhaps Johnson’s work in the engineering field is best summed up by comments he once wrote about natural resources and the people that depend on them. His comments summarized his convictions about the development of irrigation and public power projects in Nebraska:

“What happens to the land, the soil, the water and the minerals within the earth determines what happens to its people. It is upon these resources that men and nations must build. These are the foundations upon which our hopes and dreams for a future of prosperity and security are based.

“But everything depends upon how the job of developing such resources is done – whether it is for the welfare of all the people of the region or just for the financial benefit of a few individuals. The method followed determines whether these resources of the people will be exhausted and depleted by a few individuals seeking self-promotion or whether these resources are sustained, nourished, and made safe for the benefit of the present generation and of the generations to come. These natural resources are the heritage of all the people, and not the exclusive property of a few.”

Johnson applied these convictions to his work throughout his life, whether in neighboring states, on business travels to the eastern United States or in Argentina, but most of all, in Nebraska, his native land. In his biography, he said about the state:

“I have always loved Nebraska! It is a wide-open land with a big sky. It is a land where a strong man can use his muscles and stretch his brain. It is a land where a boy can dream the great American Dream and see it come true.

I have come to know it well. I have traveled it many times, border to border, by auto and airplane. I have farmed its soil and pioneered the use of surplus farm crops to make gasohol. I helped build its beautiful State Capitol building in Lincoln; and its highways, bridges, dams, canals and power plants.

Yes, Nebraska is a wonderful land of golden opportunities. Do you wonder why I love it so much?”

References/Sources of Information

Hamaker, Dr. Gene E. 1964. Irrigation Pioneers: A History of the Tri-County Project to 1935. Warp Publishing Company, Minden, Neb.

Johnson, George E., II. 1981. The Nebraskan. Anna Publishing, Inc., Winter Park, Fla.

Johnson, George E. 1967. Unpublished memoirs for The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.

Conservation and Survey Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Flat Water: A History of Nebraska and Its Water. Resource Report No. 12. March 1993.

Firth, Robert E. 1962. Public Power in Nebraska: A Report on State Ownership. University of Nebraska Press.

NSIA/NWRA 2016 Annual Convention Summary; Sen. Carlson Named Recipient of Kremer Award

NSIA/NWRA 2016 Annual Convention Summary; Sen. Carlson Named Recipient of Kremer Award

“Forward … Building on the Past,” was the theme of the Nebraska State Irrigation Association and the Nebraska Water Resources Association annual joint convention held Nov. 21-22 in Kearney, Neb. The convention featured two days of presentations and discussions based on that theme.

The event’s first presentation covered the historic 1935 flood along the Republican River that caused untold damage and claimed more than 100 lives. The catastrophe led to the construction of a series of dams and reservoirs in the Republican River Basin to control the river flow to prevent future floods, for agriculture irrigation, and recreational uses.

Also on the agenda was a panel discussion with several recently retired individuals who shared their perspectives on long careers in the water resources field, experience gained, lessons learned, and advice for the future. On the panel were Glenn Johnson, former Lower Platte South NRD manager; John Turnbull, retired manager of the Upper Big Blue NRD; Gary Westphal, former manager of the Butler Public Power District; and Jim Goeke, formerly with the UNL Conservation and Survey Division.

Looking to the present and future, several presentations covered topics related to water management, integrated management planning, managing drought risk, the Platte River Cooperative Agreement, and expanded efforts by the Nebraska Water Balance Alliance.

CNPPID General Manager Don Kraus gave a presentation entitled, “Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Nebraska’s Largest Water Management Project.” Kraus’ presentation covered the events leading up to the formation of The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, the construction of Kingsley Dam and the rest of Central’s hydro-irrigation project, and Central’s efforts to modernize its facilities, improve operational efficiency and conserve water resources over the decades.

After dinner on the evening of Nov. 21, Kraus presented the Groundwater Foundation’s Maurice Kremer Groundwater Achievement Award to former State Senator Tom Carlson.

Former State Senator Tom Carlson (second from right) received the Kremer Award at the NSIA/NWRA Annual Convention.  Shown with Sen. Carlson (left to right) are Jim Goeke, selection committee member; Groundwater Foundation Executive Director Jane Griffin; and Don Kraus, selection committee member.

Former State Senator Tom Carlson (second from right) received the Kremer Award at the NSIA/NWRA Annual Convention. Shown with Sen. Carlson (left to right) are Jim Goeke, selection committee member; Groundwater Foundation Executive Director Jane Griffin; and Don Kraus, selection committee member.

The Kremer Award is presented annually by Foundation to an outstanding Nebraskan who has made a substantive contribution to the conservation and protection of Nebraska’s groundwater. The Groundwater Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Lincoln with a mission to educate people and inspire action to ensure sustainable, clean groundwater for future generations.

“Senator Carlson’s work ethic and deep passion for our state’s most important natural resource, groundwater, is reflected in his accomplishments during his tenure as a State Senator,” said Groundwater Foundation President Jane Griffin. “Our state has benefited from Senator Carlson’s deep passion for our natural resources. On behalf of all of us at the Groundwater Foundation, I am honored to recognize him with the Kremer Award.”

Kraus, a member of the selection committee for the award, commented, “During his two terms in the Unicameral, Senator Carlson was a leading proponent and tireless advocate for legislation to improve the sustainability of Nebraska’s water resources.”

Senator Carlson actively sponsored and championed LB 1098, which established the Water Sustainability Fund in 2014 to guarantee a future for Nebraska’s stressed water resources. Through his efforts, almost $30 million dollars were accumulated to finance water sustainability research in Nebraska in 2015/2016 and will finance water sustainability research into the future. He also worked on legislation related to the Republican River Sustainability Task Force and the extension of funding for the Riparian Vegetation Management Task Force.

Carlson was elected to the Nebraska Legislature in 2006 from District 38. As a State Senator, he chaired the Agriculture Committee from 2009 through 2012 and the Natural Resources Committee in 2013 and 2014, and worked extensively on agriculture and water issues.

The award is named for State Senator Maurice Kremer, who spent 20 years in the Nebraska Legislature where he was best known for his contributions toward protecting the state’s water resources, earning him the nickname “Mr. Water.”

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