Lake McConaughy (known locally and affectionately as ''Lake Mac'') is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

on the

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 I ...

. It is located north of Ogallala,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, near U.S. Highway 26 and Nebraska Highway 61. The reservoir was named for Charles W. McConaughy, a grain merchant and mayor of

Holdrege, Nebraska Holdrege is a city in Phelps County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,515 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Phelps County. The Nebraska Prairie Museum is located in Holdrege. History Holdrege was established in 1883 whe ...

, one of the leading promoters of the project. Although he did not live to see the completion of the project, his leadership and perseverance eventually culminated in a public power and irrigation project that helped Nebraska become one of the nation's leading agricultural states.

History and overview

The

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

, formed by

Kingsley Dam Kingsley Dam is located on the east side of Lake McConaughy in central Keith County, Nebraska, and was the second largest hydraulic fill dam in the world at the time of its completion. It was built as part of the New Deal project. The dam is t ...

, is a man-made body of water that is long, wide at its largest point, and deep near the dam (at full capacity) – it was constructed between 1936 and 1941 and is fed by the

. When full, the reservoir has a capacity of , covers and has of shoreline, making it the largest reservoir in Nebraska. Lake McConaughy was constructed to store water for irrigation for The Tri-County, later renamed Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID) hydro-irrigation project. A hydro-electric plant was later added and went online in 1984. The total cost of the Project was $43 million, paid by a $19 million PWA grant and a $24 million federal loan (the federal debt was paid off when the loan was refinanced in 1972; the refinanced portion of the debt was paid off in 1995). The Depression-era construction project provided jobs to more than 1,500 people. CNPPID, a political subdivision of the State of Nebraska, owns and operates the dam and reservoir and an associated hydroplant below the dam. The source of water for Lake McConaughy is primarily the North Platte River. Water flows into the lake from a drainage area west of the dam. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs on the North Platte River in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

capture precipitation and snowmelt from the mountains and utilize the water for irrigation and hydroelectric production within the North Platte Projects. Return flows from these projects to the North Platte River make up a significant portion of the inflows to Lake McConaughy. On the east side of Kingsley Dam is Lake Ogallala, commonly called the 'Little Lake'. Water flows out of Lake McConaughy through the Morning Glory tower, and out the other side of the dam through the hydroelectric plant into Lake Ogallala where the water continues flowing down the North Platte River. This smaller lake has rocky shores, but is well known for great camping and fishing. Lake McConaughy is also a popular location for fishing, boating, water sports, camping and hunting. The

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) is the State of Nebraska's State agency charged with stewardship of the state's fish, wildlife, state park, and outdoor recreation resources. The agency is led by a governor-appointed member commissi ...

(NGPC) operates a State Recreation Area at the lake. NGPC's offices are at the Lake McConaughy Visitors Center just south of the dam. The Visitor Center contains a water interpretive center, gift shop, theater, and information office.

Kingsley Dam

Kingsley Dam is located at the east end of Lake McConaughy and was the second largest hydraulically filled

earthen dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

in the world (behind

Fort Peck Dam The Fort Peck Dam is the highest of six major dams along the Missouri River, located in northeast Montana in the United States, near Glasgow, and adjacent to the community of Fort Peck. At in length and over in height, it is the largest hy ...

) on the time of its completion. The dam was named for George P. Kingsley, a

Minden, Nebraska Minden is a city in Kearney County, Nebraska, Kearney County, Nebraska, United States. The city serves as the county seat of Kearney County. The population was 3,118 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is home to the Pioneer Villa ...

banker, who worked with C. W. McConaughy to promote the project. The dam was built by pumping sand and gravel from the river bed to form its sides, while pumping a mixture of

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

soil and water into the center of the structure to form its watertight core. Seepage of water under the dam is prevented by a wall of interlocked sheet piling driven 30 to deep and tied into the impervious Brule clay formation that lies beneath the dam. The dam's face is protected by more than a million tons of rock in several layers and more than 180,000 "jackstones," (rebar-reinforced concrete tetrahedrons), each weighing . The dam is tall, long, and wide at its base. The Kingsley Hydroplant, which went on-line in 1984, is situated below the south end of the dam.

External links

Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (Official Website)
Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Mcconaughy Protected areas of Keith County, Nebraska McConaughy State parks of Nebraska Bodies of water of Keith County, Nebraska 1941 establishments in Nebraska