When the Reclamation Act passed by Congress in 1902 and the United States Reclamation Service was created, studies were conducted to determine where water projects could be constructed. Initially, the Sweetwater River (Sweetwater Project) was considered to construct a dam at “Devils Gate” to provide irrigation water. However, insufficient flows in the river did not justify the construction of a dam. The Reclamation Service then determined that a dam would be constructed on the North Platte River in the Fremont Canyon approximately 47 miles southwest of Casper, Wyoming.
The first dam and reservoir on the North Platte River after it enters from Colorado is Seminoe. Seminoe dam is part of the Kendrick Project intended to generate hydropower and expand irrigation in central Wyoming. The project, called the Casper-Alcova Project, was authorized in 1933 under the National Recovery Act during the Great Depression. The project was renamed the Kendrick Project in 1937. The Kendrick Project also includes the Alcova dam, reservoir and the Casper-Alcova Canal.
Part 4 of a six-part series on the dams, reservoirs, power generation and some diversion dams located on the North Platte River. The series will follow a chronological order of the history and construction of these projects.
Part 5 of a six-part series on the dams, reservoirs, power generation and some diversion dams located on the North Platte River. The series will follow a chronological order of the history and construction of these projects.
Industry experts shared snowpack/snowmelt runoff estimates for the upper North Platte River basin, updates on UNL irrigation management research and progress on replacing the Goshen/Gering-Ft Laramie tunnels that collapsed in 2019.
This new series by Nebraska Extension Educator Gary Stone highlights the main rivers in Nebraska and their impacts across the Midwest and Northern Plains. Part 1 of a six-part series that will cover the major rivers and their respective drainages found in Nebraska, with some geography and history about Nebraska’s rivers.
Part 2 of a six-part series that will cover the major rivers and their respective drainages found in Nebraska, with some geography and history about Nebraska’s rivers.
