Holdrege, Neb. — After lengthy discussion, The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s (CNPPID) board of directors approved a motion to direct staff to prepare an agreement to allow Central property to be used for a shooting range southeast of Lexington.
The action at Monday’s regular monthly meeting, subject to reaching an agreement with representatives of the 1000 Plus, LLC, would permit the range to remain on Central’s property for a yet to be determined period of time. Central staff and legal counsel will continue to work with 1000 Plus on a potential use arrangement to bring before the board.
Also during Monday’s meeting, the board approved:
- Water exchange agreements with the Nebraska Public Power District and the Central Platte Natural Resources District. Per the agreement, the two entities agree to forego a portion of surface storage water diversions to several Platte River irrigation canals to potentially sell to the Platte River Recovery and Implementation Program and add that water to the Environmental Account (EA) in Lake McConaughy. The EA is a block of water held in the lake by Central and managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to benefit wildlife habitat along the Platte River.
- An agreement with Ayres Associates, Inc., for a comprehensive assessment risk analysis of Kingsley Dam and a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Part 12D periodic inspection of Johnson Lake and Jeffrey Lake dams. The estimated cost of the agreements are $752,000 and $81,000, respectively.
- A request from Johnson Lake Development, Inc., for a $4,350 increase in funds for the JLDI services agreement, in addition to the over $60,000 provided for in an annual agreement, to help offset higher costs primarily due to inflation. The agreement covers such annual costs as communications, insurance and related services, yard waste landfill operations, contracted sanitation disposal services and mowing operations.
- A $50,237 purchase requisition to replace the undercarriage of the bulldozer used at the Diversion Dam. The board also approved the purchase of a rock crusher attachment for $5,200 and a rock breaker attachment for $12,930.
- A request for $1,917 from the Cozad Fire & Rescue Dept., for the purchase of ice rescue equipment.
Civil Engineer Tyler Thulin reported that Lake McConaughy’s elevation as of Monday was 3, 241.9 feet above sea level, a volume of 1.13 million acre-feet (64.8 percent of capacity). Inflows were around 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) while outflows were about 1,820 cfs. The majority of current releases –1,300 cfs — are from the EA in Lake McConaughy requested by the USFWS for seed germination suppression along the Platte River. Those releases are expected to continue through June.
