Archives 2018

At the 2018 Nebraska State Irrigation Association/Nebraska Water Resources Association joint annual convention, NSIA leaders launched the Tim Anderson Memorial Water Learning Project, a fund drive to solicit contribution in an effort to advance water education and sustainability in Nebraska.

Former Governor and U.S. Senator Ben Nelson was on hand at a luncheon to introduce the effort and spoke glowingly of Anderson’s efforts to raise awareness about water issues in Nebraska and advocate for cooperative, common sense solutions to disputes over water, rather than resorting to litigation or a win/lose approach to water issues.

Below is the text of a letter from Nelson which is among the outreach tools from the NSIA committee that is coordinating the fundraising effort to create an endowment aimed at bringing Nebraskans together on water issues.

Tim Anderson Memorial Water Learning Project

Carrying that Pail Together:  A Letter from former Nebraska Governor and U.S. Senator Benjamin Nelson

Dear Friend,

I am pleased to announce the creation of the Tim Anderson Memorial Water Learning Project.  I was first approached by the Nebraska State Irrigation Association in January to discuss the idea of developing a special memorial in honor of long-time natural resources advocate Tim Anderson.  Tim Anderson was a very good friend of mine who mentored me and took me under his wing.  Tim faithfully informed me of our state’s difficult water issues while I had the distinct honor of serving as Nebraska’s Governor and Senator.  Tim passed away in October of 2017 after a passionate career centered around Nebraska’s water resources.

To honor his memory, I would like to share a story about Tim with you as well.  Tim would often sit on his dock at his cabin watching the sunset over Plum Creek Canyon Lake on a supply canal west of Johnson Lake.  He would hum the bars of one of his favorite songs, “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,” by Otis Redding on those warm summer evenings:

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun,

I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes.

Watchin’ the ships roll in,

Then I watch ‘em roll away again.

He would envision those ships coming and going, docking, unloading and loading up again, then steaming off to another port.  Throughout his career, Tim looked upon people as coming and going, unloading information and gathering information and then taking these bits and pieces of information and ideas to other destinations.  His goal was to bring together this continuum of thoughts and concerns and engage people to have meaningful conversations.  Tim believed that if folks could sit down together and discuss water concerns and ideas with equal passion that those around the table might realize that they have more in common rather than a barn full of differences.  It was his definition of “water collegiality,” where an inclusive vision of Nebraska’s shared water future was attainable through productive discourse and functional compromise.  By no coincidence, this song was played at his funeral.

The Tim Anderson Memorial Water Learning Project can achieve such objectives as:

• Supporting the Nebraska Water Leaders Academy – The Academy provides learning opportunities that focus on cooperative approaches to solving Nebraska’s water issues.
• Creating Water Resources Partnerships – Hosting “think tank” sessions with water leaders around Nebraska.

Through your donation to the Tim Anderson Memorial Water Learning Project, you will be directly impacting Nebraska’s shared water future by creating a greater understanding of Nebraska’s water heritage.  You will essentially be building a “house of water sustainability” whereby collegiality is the foundation.  Discourse becomes the load-bearing walls.  Education frames the windows and doors of creativity.  Compromise and understanding become the roof under which conservation is blanketed.  The value of this house is a direct reflection of your generosity.

As you know, Nebraska is blessed with a wonderful bounty of water, but it is imperative to keep our water plentiful and clean.  Your gift will be aiding the promotion of water collegiality, developing water leaders, and ensuring that Tim’s seminal message of how blessed we are to have this water heritage lives onward.  He carried his virtue for water sustainability like a pail full of water.

Nebraska is one of the few places in the world fortunate enough to have this water resource.  Tim spent time sittin’ on his own dock surrounded by this gift of water and I want to thank you for considering a gift to the Tim Anderson Memorial Water Learning Project.

Respectfully,

/s/ Ben Nelson

The Honorable Benjamin Nelson

Nebraska Governor and United States Senator

For more information about contributing to the fund, you can call Lee Orton at (402) 476-0162, or print the form below and mail it to:

Tim Anderson Memorial Water Learning Project

c/o Water Futures Partnership-Nebraska, Inc.

1233 Lincoln Mall, Ste. #201

Lincoln, NE  68508

Harvest is upon us and another irrigation season – such as it was in our neck of the woods – is over, so a recap of the recently concluded water year from Central’s perspective is in order.  (Note: A “water year” runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 of the following year.)

It was somewhat of an unusual summer, at least in south-central Nebraska.  Conditions and experiences in other parts of Nebraska, being a state of much variability, may have differed considerably.  But by most accounts, irrigation demand was relatively low this summer, whether the water was delivered from a canal system or pumped from a well.

The post-season data shows that deliveries from Central’s system were well below normal.  That’s probably a good thing because, after three consecutive years in which inflows to Lake McConaughy exceeded 1 million acre-feet (a-f), the 2017-18 water year failed to reach that level, amounting to just under 900,000 a-f.  This comes on the heels of two consecutive years of below average snowmelt runoff that feeds the North Platte River.

Under different circumstances this might be cause for concern about the reservoir’s storage conditions, but not so much this year.  While there are many factors in play, reduced irrigation demand across much of the Platte Valley helped keep water in Lake McConaughy.

As a reminder to readers, water from Lake McConaughy is released not only for Central’s irrigation customers, but for diversion by many other canals in the Platte Valley.

At first glance, reduced irrigation demand could be attributed to abundant rainfall and temperatures that, by and large, stayed below scorching levels.  While temperatures rarely climbed above the low 90s, precipitation – at least in Central’s area – didn’t depart that much from normal this summer, although seldom a week went by without some precipitation.  Perhaps more so than the amount, the timeliness and effectiveness of rainfall helped reduce irrigation demand.

Rain gauges in the area accumulated various amounts of precipitation during the growing season (April-September), with average for that period in parentheses:  21.81” north of Elwood (17.28”); 23.26” in the Bertrand area (17.55”); 20.14” inches north of Holdrege (20.36”); and 17.67” inches north of Minden 19.81”).  Keep in mind that these totals include rainfall in September – which was fairly wet — when crop water use was low.

While it might have seemed wet, we didn’t see a dramatic departure from the norm this year.

Lake McConaughy reached its peak elevation on June 11 at 3257.0 feet above mean sea level.  It’s low elevation for the year was reached on Sept. 9 at 3252.4 feet.  That decline – 4.6 feet – is among the lowest irrigation-season declines on record.

While that small of a decline is unusual – the reservoir typically drops between 10 and 15 feet during a “normal” irrigation season – there have been summers when the lake actually gained elevation due to a variety of factors (high inflows, plentiful rainfall, high South Platte River flows which reduced the need for releases from Lake McConaughy, and the summer of ’93 when widespread hail storms and late crop freezes and 40 inches of rain significantly impacted demand for irrigation water in south-central Nebraska).

In fact, perusal of the data revealed that Lake McConaughy gained elevation during irrigation season on seven occasions:  1947, 1962, 1965, 1993, 1999, 2010 and 2015.  And in 1958 the lake was at the same elevation at the end of September as it was on the first of May.

In summary, Lake McConaughy weathered the summer of 2018 quite well and storage conditions are good.  Upstream reservoirs in Wyoming are also in fairly good shape entering the fall and winter.  But it sure would be nice to see some snowfall on those mountains by next April.

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The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District had the great pleasure to host Class XI of the Leadership Nebraska program at Kingsley Dam/Lake McConaughy on Aug. 16, 2018.

Numbering around 25 people, the class learned about the construction, development and operation of the Central District while visiting the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Visitors Center/Water Interpretive Center, as well as Lake McConaughy’s outlet structures and the Kingsley Hydroplant.

During the briefing about the District’s operations, the group learned that the annual economic impact of the Kingsley Dam/Lake McConaughy hydroelectric-irrigation project is estimated to be between $556 to $806 million (according to a study conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of the development of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program in the early 2000s).

The economic benefits were diverse and derived from irrigation for agriculture, recreational pursuits at Lake McConaughy and associated facilities, hydropower generation and power plant cooling water.

Devin Brundage (top center in red shirt) explains the operation of the Kingsley Hydroplant to Leadership class members.

The class also listened to a presentation by Colby Johnson, NGPC’s regional park superintendent, about the economic and social impact at recreation at Lake McConaughy/Lake Ogallala as well as throughout Nebraska.

The product of planning committee formed by the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2005, the first class was assembled in 2007.  The program is geared toward people who have demonstrated community and professional leadership experiences and who desire to further develop their leadership skills and potential.

According to the Leadership Nebraska web site:

“Leadership Nebraska is a program designed for current and future Nebraska leaders to view the economic and political challenges and opportunities that face Nebraska.  (The program’s) mission is to identify, educate, communicate with, inspire and engage Nebraska’s current and emerging leaders for the well-being of the state of Nebraska.”

With the spray emitting from the bypass valve at Kingsley Hydroplant as a backdrop, Class XI poses for a group photo.

Class sessions are held in various parts of the state.  Each of the two-day sessions focuses on important issues in those areas and typically cover topics related to economic development, workforce development and education, agriculture and the environment, government and politics, and health and human services.

Central provided lunch to the class as part of the day’s activities.

(Note: Central employs three graduates of the Leadership Nebraska program:  Engineering Services Manager Eric Hixson, Class I, 2007; Public Relations Manager Jeff Buettner, Class XI, 2012; and Gothenburg Division Manager Devin Brundage, Class IX, 2016.)

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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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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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You can’t say it wasn’t expected.

A bill in the Nebraska Legislature this session sought to take money from the Water Sustainability Fund (WSF) for a purpose that was completely unrelated to the original intent and objectives of the WSF.

Thankfully, the bill did not pass, largely due to the efforts of a number of senators who opposed the measure.  However, it reminds those who are responsible for managing the state’s water resources to remain vigilant about such future attempts.

First, a little background.

Former State Senator Tom Carlson of Holdrege (Dist. 38) introduced a bill during the 2013 session that created the Water Funding Task Force.  The task force consisted of 34 members concerned with ensuring sustainable use of Nebraska’s water resources.  Original task force members represented virtually all of Nebraska’s water resources interests, from agriculture, utilities and municipalities to wildlife and recreation.

The task force’s objectives were ambitious in scope, but can be condensed into a few primary goals: make recommendations for developing water-funding legislation that would contribute to achieving sustainable use of water in Nebraska; identify potential sources of funding for programs, projects and activities; and develop a set of criteria by which potential projects would be evaluated and ranked according to how well they met the criteria.

The task force met more than 30 times between July and December 2013 at various sites across the state.  The product of these meetings was the establishment of a Water Sustainability Fund intended to assist projects (with a 40-percent match from the sponsor) that increased the available water supply, reduced water use, increased stream flows, improved water quality, provided flood control enhancements, ensured adequate water for agricultural, municipal and industrial uses, addressed wildlife needs, and improved recreational benefits.  The efforts culminated in the passage of LB1098 during the 2014 legislative session, which created the WSF and assigned its oversight to an expanded Natural Resources Commission.

The scoring criteria for the WSF developed by the task force was later refined by the Natural Resources Commission with focus on significant and expensive water issues that match the fund’s objectives.

The recent attempt in the Legislature was to reallocate funds from the WSF for use in establishing water supplies for community gardens.  Certainly a commendable purpose, but it failed to fit with any of the objectives identified for water sustainability funding.  Perhaps more importantly, passage of such a bill would have set a dangerous precedent, one that would have encouraged additional efforts to siphon funding from the WSF.

The WSF has seen in the past two years a reduction in its funding, as money is reallocated to help address the state’s budget shortfall.  That’s understandable; almost all state cash funds have been reduced.  Additional hands shaking the piggy bank in the future would diminish the state’s ability to achieve the WSF’s objectives.

Memories surface of how other state program funds have been tapped for purposes other than originally intended, based on the argument that “times have changed and so can funding appropriations.”  That may be true in some cases, but not for the WSF; its task remains the same.  Now entering its fourth grant cycle, the need to sustain and protect Nebraska’s water resources is as great as ever and it is the state as a whole that will benefit.

The next drought is always lurking around the corner.  When it inevitably arrives, the water sustainability improvements made possible by the WSF will prove their worth.  Nebraskans who value the original intent of the Water Sustainability Fund to fund programs and projects that help ensure the availability of water supplies for future generations should remain on guard and be thankful to those who worked so hard to establish a dedicated source of funding to enhance and protect Nebraska’s water resources.

Former Central Senior Biologist Mark M. Peyton of Gothenburg, Neb., has published a book, “The Village Naturalist”, and will be promoting his book with a signing event on February 17, 2018, at the J-2 Hydroplant Eagle Viewing Center from 10 a.m. to noon.

Follow this link for more info on Peyton’s book http://bookstore.dorrancepublishing.com/the-village-naturalist/

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 100^th anniversary.  In 1991, as part of the dam’s 50^th 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 100^th 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.