(HOLDREGE, Neb.) – The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s board of directors approved a contract with a Nebraska company to remove sediment at the District’s Diversion Dam in Lincoln County at their monthly meeting May 5th.
The new 30-year agreement gives GRIT Group, a Nebraska limited liability company, exclusive rights to the sand piles that are located near Central’s diversion just east of the city of North Platte.
GRIT plans to process the sand, market it to outside users then haul it away to locations across the region. They have worked with the city of North Platte and Lincoln County on potential partnerships that would be economically viable for the area.
Hydraulic Project Operations Manager Cory Steinke emphasized to the board the importance of removing the sand and sediment from the diversion dam location. Central has accumulated large piles of sand on land on both sides of the diversion dam from the continuous dredging that takes place at the diversion dam to ensure efficient operations.
Without this new agreement, Central would continue to accrue costs for pumping the sediment further to add to their piles as well as the additional expenses of removing the sediment off site.
GRIT has found solutions to use the sediment as a marketable product. They have agreed to pay royalties to Central for the sediment. Central will make road improvements prior to GRIT operations and assist with electrical hookups.
Also at Monday’s board meeting:
- Directors approved supplemental storage water agreements with five North Platte canal companies for water from Lake McConaughy that is above their allocation of storage water from Glendo Reservoir. The new agreements with Keith-Lincoln, Lisco, Paxton-Hershey, Platte Valley and Suburban have a 2.5% rate increase and run through Dec. 31, 2025.
- A resolution was approved to utilize Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) delivery method for the E-65 Siphon project. In accordance with state statute, the board determined it is in the public interest based on savings in cost and time and requirements for the specialized and complex construction method to select the CMAR method for construction of the E-65 Siphon Project. A comprehensive prequalification effort will be conducted over the coming months to identify firms with proven expertise in installing and managing large-diameter pipe installations using both HDPE and steel materials. Pre-qualification is intended to evaluate potential construction managers who can collaborate closely with the engineering team to assess both materials and associated installation processes before final design.
- The board voted for several amendments to the Permitting Procedures and Permitting Process. This includes the removal of Lot Line Construction Setbacks and Roadway Construction Setbacks as counties already have these in their zoning requirements. This will reduce redundancy and simplify the permitting process for customers.
- The board approved the purchase of a CNC/Manual Operation Combination Lathe from Sominn Machinery Sales of Dodge City, Minn., in the amount of $146,210.
- Civil Engineer Tyler Thulin reported that Lake McConaughy’s elevation was at 3239.3 feet on Monday (61.5% of capacity). Inflows are around 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) and outflows are about 600 cfs. He stated that releases are currently only for irrigation demand, but releases by the US Fish and Wildlife Service from the Environmental Account for seed germination suppression are planned to begin in June late May and go through late June so the lake will likely continue to drop throughout the summer. The goal of the Service’s EA release is to maintain an approximate flow of 1,500 cfs in the Platte River at Grand Island for the month of June.
- The board voted to change the time and date of the June Board of Directors meeting to Thursday, June 5, 2025 at NebraskaLand Bank in North Platte, Neb.
