McConaughy supported construction of two storage reservoirs on Plum Creek in northern Gosper County. The reservoirs would store water diverted from the nearby Platte River. However, a lawsuit filed by opponents of the project resulted in a ruling by the Nebraska Supreme Court that prohibited Central from delivering water to land outside the Platte River basin. This eliminated almost two-thirds of the acres from the planned delivery area, making the project uneconomical as proposed.

Click on the image for a larger version. The “Tri-County” Project as Originally Approved in 1935. Source — Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.

Plans for the project were quickly redesigned. Routes of canals were changed and the hydroplants were relocated. More importantly, the two Plum Creek reservoirs were dropped in favor of a reservoir site on the North Platte River north of Ogallala, Neb. The new plan included construction of a huge dam across the river and convinced engineers who were evaluating the project that the project would provide enough storage water for Central’s project, as well as other irrigation canals in the Platte Valley. The larger storage reservoir and the new sites for the hydroplants also allowed the project to generate and sell more electricity. This made up for the loss of revenue that would have come from delivering irrigation water to the lands removed from the project’s service area by the Supreme Court’s decision.

Click on the image for a larger version. The Central District Project (1941 to present). Source — Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.

The decision to build the dam (now known as Kingsley Dam) at the new site led to the resignation from the Tri-County board of directors of one of its founders and staunchest supporters. C.W. McConaughy could not accept the decision to abandon plans for the Plum Creek reservoirs in favor of a different reservoir site. McConaughy lived to see construction of much of the project for which he had worked so hard, but died on April 15, 1941, only a few months before the completion and formal dedication of Kingsley Dam. The dam formed the lake that, ironically, now bears his name: Lake McConaughy.

“Looking over the site for the Plum Creek Reservoirs,” was the caption given in newspapers when this group toured the area in which the proposed the Tri-County Project would be built. The picture taken in the1930s just east of Elwood, NE, shows, from left to right: W.C. Cooper, secretary of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce; Clark E. Mickey, University of Nebraska Civil Engineering Department; Ashton C. Shallenberger, U.S. Congressman from Nebraska; Charles W. McConaughy, Tri-County Project supporter from Holdrege and later president of the Central District’s original board of directors; George W. Norris, U.S. Senator from Nebraska; Adolph Held, secretary of the Holdrege Chamber of Commerce; J.N. Norton, U.S. Congressman from Nebraska; Val Kuska, agricultural development agent for the Burlington Railroad; Fred R. Kingsley, Tri-County Project supporter from Minden and later a member of the Central District’s original board of directors; and Charles G. Wallace, a supporter of irrigation from Hastings, a member of the Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District’s board of directors and a supporter of both projects. Source — Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.

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