Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />Nebraska National Forest and Valentine National Wildlife Retuge, <br />but additional large blocks are in state special use areas. <br /> <br />Several irrigation water storage reservoirs owned by the <br /> <br />federal government or by public power and irrigation districts <br />have been developed by the state for recreation. The largest <br /> <br />of these is the Lake McConaughy Recreation Area with a total <br />combined land and water area of about 42,000 acres. <br /> <br />Water Storage and Control Structures <br />A description of the basin would not be complete without <br /> <br />enumeration of the major man-made structures that have been <br /> <br />completed to store and control the basin's waters. These store <br /> <br />water primarily for irrigation, hydroelectric power production, <br /> <br />recreation and flood control. Since the beginning of settlement, <br /> <br />man has attempted to control the basin's waters for his use by <br /> <br />constructing reservoirs and levees and making stream channel im- <br /> <br />provements. Although most of these projects have been successful, <br /> <br />some have met with failure and provide lessons to be learned. <br /> <br />Major storage Reservoirs <br />Water storage reservoirs in the three states of the Platte <br /> <br />Basin have major effects on the economy and environment of that <br /> <br />portion in Nebraska. The water stored has many uses and, when <br /> <br /> <br />not consumed, it is used over and over again as in the case of <br /> <br />power generation. <br />Water of the North Platte River, by the time it enters <br /> <br />Nebraska, has already been subjected to intensive regulation by <br /> <br />five major reservoirs on the North Platte River in Wyoming and <br /> <br />three on tributary streams. Construction of Gray Rock, another <br />major tributary reservoir near the mouth of the Laramie River, is <br />2-30 <br />