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Diversion Dam, located on the North Platte River 2 miles downstream from Kingsley Dam, <br />impounds a portion of Lake Ogallala and diverts water through the 32- mile -long Sutherland <br />Canal into the Sutherland Reservoir, which is located slightly south of the South Platte <br />River. <br />Project No. 1835 also includes the 1,244- foot -long Korty Diversion Dam on the South <br />Platte River, which diverts water into Sutherland Reservoir through a 7- mile -long supply <br />canal. <br />Korty Diversion Dam was modified in 1990 to minimize the amount of sediment drawn into <br />the supply canal and increase downriver sediment supplies. Sutherland Reservoir has a <br />maximum surface area of 3,050 acres and usable storage capacity of 64,723 acre -feet. The <br />Gerald Gentleman Station, a two -unit, coal- fired, steam - electric generating station with a <br />combined rating of 1,300 MW, is authorized to withdraw no greater than 1,250 cubic feet <br />per second (cfs) of project waters for condenser cooling from Sutherland Reservoir. A 19- <br />mile -long supply canal connects Sutherland Reservoir to Lake Maloney, a reservoir with a <br />surface area of 1,670 acres. Lake Maloney supplies water through a 2- mile -long power <br />canal to the 24 -MW North Platte Powerhouse, which is located on the South Platte River <br />immediately upstream of the junction with the North Platte. All of these facilities and <br />reservoirs (except Gerald Gentleman Station and the western portion of Lake Ogallala) are <br />project works within Project No. 1835. <br />Together, the two projects have a total of five hydroelectric powerplants with a combined <br />dependable capacity of 116 MW. The annual electric generation of the combined projects <br />varies considerably but averages about 450 gigawatt hours (GWh) (NPPD, 1992). <br />The two projects are operated in a coordinated manner for irrigation and power production. <br />Central's Project No. 1417 provides storage water and direct irrigation service for a large <br />portion of central Nebraska along the Platte River Valley. By contract, the first 125,000 <br />acre -feet of water stored each year are reserved to NPPD for use by three irrigation canals <br />owned by NPPD and four private canals. Additionally, Central has contracted to make <br />11,400 acre -feet of storage water available each year from Lake McConaughy to five <br />irrigation canals along the North Platte River for irrigation of approximately 30,000 acres of <br />land. This storage water supplements natural flow rights held by these irrigation canals. <br />Also, Central supplies about 230,000 acre -feet of water to irrigate nearly 113,000 acres in <br />Lincoln, Dawson, Gosper, Kearney, and Phelps counties (Central, 1992a). Project No. <br />1835's Sutherland Reservoir reserves 20,000 acre -feet of storage water for use by NPPD's <br />canals and for privately owned canals, all located outside project boundaries. <br />2.1.2 Current Project Operation <br />Project Nos. 1417 and 1835 are operated by the Districts to meet four principal goals: (1) <br />provide a dependable supply of water for irrigation, including the provision of adequate <br />storage for drought protection; (2) provide a reliable source of cooling water for Gerald <br />Gentleman Station; (3) generate hydropower; and (4) provide recreational opportunities at <br />2 -5 <br />