OGALLALA — State natural resources leaders Tuesday brought their latest Perkins County Canal update to the town where the foiled 1894 project’s revival arguably began a century ago.
The primary area within which where a revived 1894 Perkins County Canal might run can be seen in the yellow cross-hatched area in this Nebraska Department of Natural Resources map. Under the 1923 South Platte River Compact, the canal must leave the South Platte River near Ovid, Colorado (lower left), and generally follow the original 1894 canal project’s surveyed route in Sedgwick County up to the Colorado-Nebraska line. It’s expected on the Nebraska side to pass through southern Keith County, either linking with the Nebraska Public Power District’s Korty Canal between Roscoe and Paxton or rejoining the river just upstream of the Korty. The Western Canal in Deuel and Keith counties, operational since the mid-1890s, also can be seen.
COURTESY OF NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Michael Jeffres (left), who grows corn on both sides of Brule, discusses emerging plans for reviving the 1894 Perkins County Canal Tuesday at the Keith County Fairgrounds with Jesse Bradley, assistant director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Jeffres said he expects the two-state canal’s Keith County path ultimately will cross his land south of Interstate 80.
Michael Jeffres (left), who grows corn on both sides of Brule, discusses emerging plans for reviving the 1894 Perkins County Canal Tuesday at the Keith County Fairgrounds with Jesse Bradley, assistant director of the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Jeffres said he expects the two-state canal’s Keith County path ultimately will cross his land south of Interstate 80.
The primary area within which where a revived 1894 Perkins County Canal might run can be seen in the yellow cross-hatched area in this Nebraska Department of Natural Resources map. Under the 1923 South Platte River Compact, the canal must leave the South Platte River near Ovid, Colorado (lower left), and generally follow the original 1894 canal project’s surveyed route in Sedgwick County up to the Colorado-Nebraska line. It’s expected on the Nebraska side to pass through southern Keith County, either linking with the Nebraska Public Power District’s Korty Canal between Roscoe and Paxton or rejoining the river just upstream of the Korty. The Western Canal in Deuel and Keith counties, operational since the mid-1890s, also can be seen.
COURTESY OF NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
