Governor SupportsCentury-Old Canal Project
By Gordon Hopkins
Last year, concerns about continued access to water led then-Nebraska Governor Pete Rickets to propose constructing a $567 million canal in Colorado to ensure the continued flow of water to Nebraska. Current Governor Jim Pillen toured the Perkins County Canal project on Arbor Day, April 28. FJN reached out to the governor’s office and a representative responded, “The canal project is moving forward and Governor Pillen is in full support.”
The South Platte River Compact, first established in 1923, is an interstate compact between Colorado and Nebraska and also has congressional consent. This compact established a commission that would address appropriation of the South Platte River, which enters into territory of both Nebraska and Colorado. The project would build a canal from Julesburg, Colorado, (colloquially known as the ‘Perkins County Canal’ at the time the Compact was signed) into Nebraska.
Governor Pillen was joined by Lieutenant Governor Joe Kelly, Nebraska Department of Natural Resources Director Tom Riley and State Senators Bob Dover, Loren Lippincott, Steve Erdman, Brian Hardin, Teresa Ibach and Mike Jacobson, where he toured not only this project but major water resource sites, including Lake McConaughy, NPPD Water Systems in Paxton, and the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District Diversion Dam in North Platte.
“Water is our state’s most precious resource and we’ve been blessed with an abundance of streams, rivers, and aquifers,” said Governor Pillen. “Successfully managing our water resources is key to help propel the economic engine of our state. The Perkins County Canal serves as the only means for Nebraska to control its future South Platte River water supplies. The project has my full support.”
Director Riley said, “The Perkins County Canal project is critical to ensuring we maintain the water supplies that provide those benefits and ensure that they are resilient into the future.”
