1. WHO OWNS THE LAKES? Lake McConaughy and Lake Ogallala are owned and operated by the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID).
2. WHO MANAGES THE LAKES? Recreation is managed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission through a lease with CNPPID. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works in partnership with Game and Parks and CNPPID to make sure that the threatened and endangered species that use the lake are conserved.
3. WHY WERE KINGSLEY DAM AND THE LAKES BUILT? The dam and Lake McConaughy, which is Nebraska's largest reservoir, were constructed between 1936 and 1941 in order to store water from the North Platte River to be used for irrigation in central Nebraska. Lake Ogallala, the "little lake," was formed from the pumping of the loess soil into Kingsley Dam. A hydro-electric plant was added to the system in 1984.
4. WHAT AFFECTS WATER LEVELS? As an irrigation reservoir, Lake McConaughy's levels are affected by numerous complex factors, including periodic drought cycles, snowpack in the mountains above the North Platte River Basin, levels in the Bureau of Reclamation's reservoirs in the North Platte River Basin, irrigation releases, and environmental account releases. Daily updates on lake elevation, percentage of capacity, inflows, and outflows are provided at www.cnppid.com/lake-river-data.
If you have further questions, please reach out to these entities directly:
CNPPID (www.cnppid.com)
NE Game and Parks (www.outdoornebraska.gov)
ILoveLakeMac.com is a tourism website, provided as a service of the Keith County Visitors Committee.