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Central financed the construction of the Kramer Power Plant in Bellevue to help meet this need. Central would sell • <br /> its share of the Kramer plant to NPPS in 1964. <br /> In 1948, Central's board of directors decided to concentrate on irrigation and to allow the Loup and Platte <br /> Valley districts to operate NPPS. Central retained control over Kingsley Dam, the supply canal and its three <br /> hydroplants, as well as the irrigation canals and laterals. NPPS took control of the electric system which included <br /> Central's transmission lines and substations. <br /> By the mid-1950s, demand for power had again increased to the point that additional generating capacity was <br /> needed. Because Platte Valley, Loup and Consumers were all involved in litigation at the time, Central was the <br /> only entity that could finance construction of a new power plant. Studies began in 1955 and construction of the <br /> Canaday Steam Plant south of Lexington commenced shortly thereafter. The 100-megawatt plant went into <br /> operation in 1958. Central sold the Canaday Steam Plant to NPPD in 1994 and the plant is currently in lay-up <br /> condition. <br /> With advancements in technology, particularly computers, Central began studying automation of the <br /> hydroplants in 1967. In 1969 Central constructed a new building for the Gothenburg Division office, which would <br /> include the Control Center. In addition to automation of the hydroplants, Central installed supervisory control <br /> capability on many of its supply canal structures during the early 1970s. Today the Control Center operates <br /> Kingsley Hydroplant,the three supply canal hydroplants, the diversion dam, supply canal:check structures and <br /> gates on the main irrigation canals. <br /> Studies for a new hydroplant were initiated in response to the Arab nations' oil embargo during the mid-1970s. <br /> Central applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval to build the new plant in 1979 <br /> and construction began in 1981. The 50-megawatt Kingsley Hydroplant below Kingsley Dam went into operation <br /> three years later. • <br /> * * * <br /> The Central District was created as a political subdivision of the State of Nebraska. Funding for the project <br /> ($43 million) came from a$19 million grant from the PWA and a loan from the federal government in the amount <br /> of$24 million. This loan was repaid by 1972. <br /> The irrigation project changed the very face of Nebraska. It stabilized agricultural production,making a good <br /> harvest possible even during the deepest droughts. In addition to providing water through its surface delivery <br /> system, the canals and reservoirs help provide crucial recharge to the underground aquifer, enabling thousand of <br /> farmers to continue pumping from ground water supplies that would have been drawn down considerably without <br /> the continual recharge. <br /> Today, Central provides surface water delivery to more than 112,000 acres and also supplies other irrigation <br /> districts with water to supplement deliveries to almost 34,000 acres served by those districts. In addition, 310,300 <br /> acres in south-central Nebraska which are irrigated by wells have been documented as receiving benefits from the <br /> Central system's recharge of the ground water mound. All together, Central's project provides water to more than <br /> 457,000 acres: <br /> Approximately 8 million acres in Nebraska are irrigated in one way or another and the economic impact of <br /> irrigation is substantial. Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have concluded that irrigation's direct <br /> and indirect impact on the economy amounts to about $1.3 billion per year(1990 dollars) and can be as high as <br /> $2.4 billion per year under conditions of severe drought when irrigation is absolutely necessary to raise a crop. <br /> While corn is the primary crop in Nebraska and therefore is the primary irrigated crop, irrigation is also applied <br /> to soybeans and to a smaller extent, alfalfa and a variety of other crops. <br /> The project has created innumerable opportunities for recreation at Lake McConaughy,Lake Ogallala, Johnson <br /> Lake, other reservoirs along the Supply Canal as well as the canals themselves. The reservoirs and canals support <br /> a wide variety of fish in numbers that were impossible prior to the existence of the project. The areas surrounding <br /> these bodies of water have developed into habitat for countless species of wildlife. The production of clean, <br /> efficient hydropower has helped keep electric rates in Nebraska among the lowest in the nation. <br /> * * * <br /> 11/97 <br />