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, ,,',)7 I, O'NEILL UNIT' . The potential Q'Nei I I Unit would be located in the Niobrara River Basin. The dam site for this unit would be located on the Niobrara River approximately 15 mi les northwest of Ainsworth, Nebraska. 1 rr igab I e I ands to be served wou I dine I ude a I arge area north of the towns of QINei I I and Atkinson in Holt County, and a smal I area south of Springview in Keya Paha County. The North Central Nebraska Reclamation District has requested development of this potential multi-purpose project. The U. S. Bureau of Reclamation is planning the project. Current status A feasibi lity report was prepared on this unit in 1964 by the Bureau of Reclamation. Development wi I I depend upon reauthorization for construction and the appropriation of funds by Congress. The project has been endorsed by the Nebraska Soi I and Water Conservation Commission as a part of Nebraska's State Water Plan. The plan was submitted to the Congress for authoriza- tion in August, 1968. Description of Project Area The terrain of this area is characterized by bench lands and terraces ranging in elevation from 50 to 500 feet above the river. The surface soi Is are sandy in nature and many rest upon sands and gravels. Most of the irrigable lands of the Q'Nei I I Unit I ie within the sandy table- land region of Northcentral Nebraska. Livestock has been the major export commodity produced with feed and grain crops of lesser but rapidly increasing importance. Intensive ground water irrigation development has occurred in parts of the area during the last 15 years. Annual precipitation averages about 21 inches, of which about 16 inches or 76 percent occurs during the months of Apri I through September. Extent of Project Investiqations A forerunner of the present plan for gravity irrigation service to the lands of the Q'Nei I I area was a plan developed by Inhabitants of the area in the 1890's. The Golden Irrigation District was organized consisting of 535,000 acres of rrsmooth land suitable for irrigation". The plan involved a diversion from the Niobrara River near the present Mirage Flats Project to the Snake River, and then through an extremely long canal and series of impoundments to the irrigable lands. The plan fal led for lack of full support and the irrigation district was dissolved. In 1946, the Bureau of Reclamation began a reconnaissance study of the Niobrara River Basin. Recommendations for the development of irrigation in the basin were included in Public Law 612, 83rd Congress, 1954, with the O'Nei II Unit being one of the four units to receive authorization conditional on further investigation as a part of the Missouri River Basin Project. Further investigations of the unit were initiated for the Q'Nei I I area in 1955 and for the Springview area in 1959. The Bureau of Reclamation completed a feasibi lity report in May of 1964 on this same area. Plan Features Major features of the Q'Nei I I Unit would include the Norden Dam and Reservoir, O'Nei I I Canal, Springview Pumping Plant. and associated distribution systems. The primary function would be the irrigation of 77,000 acres of land with benefits also accruing to flood control, recreation, and fish and wi Idl ife. Norden Dam would be a rol led earthfi I I structure on the Niobrara River just below the mouth of Fairfield Creek. The reservoir would have an initial capacity of 41 I ,000 acre-feet. A river outlet works wi I I have a capacity of 3600 c.f.s. A canal outlet works in the right abutment of the dam would del iver irrigation water to the Q'Nei I I Canal at a maximum rate of 1400 c.f.s. The Springview Forebay Dam and Reservoir would be located four mi les west of Springview in Keya Paha County on a tributary of Jewett Creek, and would receive water from Norden Reservoir by way of QINei I I Canal and Springview Sub-Canal through an inverted siphon beneath the Niobrara River. Water would be taken from the Springview Sub-Canal to irrigate 700 acres before it reaches the pumping plant. . , "O'Neill Unit, Nebraska", Lower Niobrara Division Report, Part I. May 1964. write: Area Engineer, Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Island, Nebraska. For information, 4-9