Water Power Development on the Lower Loup River: a Study in Economic Geography

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June 1937

Water Power Development on the Lower Loup River: A Study in Economic Geography

Ralph Eugene Olson University of Nebraska

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Olson, Ralph Eugene, "Water Power Development on the Lower Loup River: A Study in Economic Geography" (1937). Theses and Dissertations in Geography. 1. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geographythesis/1

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography Program (SNR) at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations in Geography by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. WATER POWER DEVELOPMENT ON THE LOWER LOUP RIVER: A STUDY IN ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

by Ralph Eugene Olson

A THESIS . Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Geography

Lincoln, Nebraska 1937 Chapter I ...... 1 Introduction. The nature of the Loup Rlver Power Project; the project as a geographic problem; the method of the investigation. Chapter I1 ...... 10 An Evaluation of the Lower LOUDArea-- Natural & Cultural Factors Affectinq Hydro-Electric Developments. Natural factors: Location, climate as related to natural vegetation and agrlcul ture, drainage and water supply, topography and land forms, natural earth materiale available for use--gravel, sand, dement; cultural factors: distribution of population and industries, possibilities for expanding the market for electricity, present sources of power in the area. Chapter I11 ...... 54 Water Power Development --on the River. Water power sites located on the LOUDand its 3ributaries; early observations of the lower Loup Rlver as a power and irrigation site; genesis of the present power development project: an Idea for stimula- ting the growth of Columbus, the preliminary engineering survey, new government interest In hydro-electric power development in Nebraska (the need for developing Nebraska's natural resources, the need for solving the unemployment problem), the allotment of federal funds, organization of the Loup Rlver Public Power District (legal problems involved, administrative organization, engineering organization, permanent organication). Chapter IV ...... 86 Mechanical AsDeots of Construction -e. -e. Headworks--intake, weirs, dikes; settling basin--; canal, power houses; reservoir; siphons, drainage ditches, culverts, and inlets; bridges, relocated roads; fences; temporary roads; camp houses, movable shelter houses; transmission lines; office buildings. Chapter v ...... 154 ome Geo a hic Problems Presented b~ L+the Prolec . Factors Involved in locating -the project as a whole--stream gradient and hischarge, land form and mantle rock, cost of the land occupied, distance from other sources of power, distance to markets for electricity, desire for a water power projeot; other problems-- locatlng the storage reservoir and power houses, locating the best route for the canal, the silt problem, the ground water problem, seepage from the canal, canal breaks, erosion of canal banks, seeding of canal banks. Chapter VI ...... 183 Human Aspects of the LOUDProject. Purchase of right-of-was: effect of project on the-communlty~-recreational posslbllities, trade and employment during construction, probable changes after con- structlon; the new cultural landscape; industrfal effects of the project; relation of the project to a program of conservation. Chapter VII ...... 198 $onclusion. Appendix: A ...... 201 B...... 20g c...... 215 D...... a,... 220 Bibliography ...... 223 . LIST OF FIGURES

Chapter I Page General Hap of the Loup River Project ... 9

Clearing and Ombbing for Excavation* ... 14 Section of Upper Portion of Canal*. 15 Map.. Location of Loup River Project in Mebr . 19 Gravel Pumping and Grading ...... 3 Position of Gravel Pit ...... 39 Chapter I11 Ground Fater Test Well No . 94 * ...... 71 Signing Bonds bf First Issue ...... 79 Chapter IV Readworks Arrangement ...... *'.** s7 Aerial View. Control Weir and Intake ., . . 88 Bank Protection Area. Looking upstresm .... 90 Control Weir. Looking Right:' . 92 Intake Gate Section and Sluice Way* ..... Ice in Intake Spillway*...... 9t9 Deck of Intake Gate Section and Sluiceway &tee .*...... 96 Cross Section of the Desilting Basin .... 98 Bridge Across Sludge Flume at Right of Skimming Weir: ...... 100 Skimming Weir. Looking Downstreamf ..102 Loup River Waters Flowing Over Skimming Weir*lOj Dragline Used in Excavating the Canal ...105 Cross Sections of Canal.. On Flood Plain Below Skimming Weir and On Shell Creek Terrace ...... 107 Aerial View of Canal Excavation.*. ..108 Aerial View of Canal Exoavation Looking Downstream *...... 110 Left Canal Embankment and Borrow Pit*.... 112 Cross Section of the Tailrace Canal ....114 * Pho'co...rzp'.. s Lsken by !*. Francis Dischner . for the L.3.P.P.F. 26 . Left Tailrace Embankment at Weir % .... 27 . Ground Water in the Tailrace Canal .... 28 . Platte River. Looking Southeast from Right of tailrace weir .... 29 . Monroe Power House in Construction .... 30 . Monroe Power House. Looking Upstred*... 31 . Columbus Power House. Looking Upstream 1 . 32. Columbus Power House under Construction? . . Columbus Power House Completed* ...... 3t3 . Penstock Erection. Columbus Power House? . . Generator Erection. Columbus Power House* . 32 . Generator Erection. Columbus power House* . 37 . Slope Payment Reservoirf ...... 38 . Reservoir Weir From Upstream Sldet .... 9 . Water Pouring Over Reservoir Weirt .... t 0 . Looking Glass Creek Near Loup District Canal ...... 41. Beaver Creek Near the Loup District canal . 42 . Beaver Creek Siphon...... 4 . Looking Glass Siphon ...... 4: . Railroad Siphon, Looking North: ...... 4 . Flume and Drainage Inlet by Bridge No . $3: 42 . County Steel Bridge Across Canal (N0.9). . 47 . Bridge No . 25 Across Tailrace Canal? ... 48 . Pipe Cine Bridge Across Tailrace Canal . . 49 . Temporary Road Across Canal ...... 50. Unexcavated Section of Canal Used for Road* ...... 51 . Farm Bridge Across Canal* ...... 52. Bridge Across Drainage Ditch ...... Railroad Siding to Columbus Power House . . Construction Materials st Columbus Power House Site ...... Chapter V . Pump Excavation at Columbus.* ...... 525 . Backwater Due to Columbus Power House Pumping.* ...... 57 . Tailrace Draining into Lost Creek.* .... 58 . Break in Canal *...... rosion of Inner Side of Canal Bank? ... . Dike Wall Washed Out*...... 61. Dressing Left Intake Canal Embankment? . . 62 . Surf ace of Tailrace Spoil Bank *...... Chapter VI * 63. Aerial View of C~nalExcavation...... 190 64. Harvesting east (Erop Trom Reservoir Site . . 191 6 . Farm on Reservoir Site ....191 62. F arm Site in Reservoir ...... 191 67. Canal Section Through South Part of Genoa. . 193 68. Schoolhouse, Playground Bordering Canal Bank ...... 69. Transmission ~inef...... 1919t Because of the newness of the subject and the consequent lack of printed information on many of its aspects, I have had to rely largely on observatior;, unpublished engineering data, and personal conferences in prep~xingthis study. -The Columbus Daily Telegram gave me free access to its excellent file of clippings concerning the Loup project, and without these the chapter on historical develonment could not have been mitten. A letter of introduction from Mr. J. A. Rorg, a family friend and a member of the board of directors of the Loup River Public Power District helped me gain access to nforbidden ground" both at the District office and at various points &Long the route of the canal. Hlr. Harold Kramer, Secretary and Genera-Manager of the District since its organization, and Mr. Ed Lusienski, Chairman of the Right-of-Fay Committee, procured for me a number of maps and made available mch statistical data. I am especially grateful to Xr. Fred Albert, Chief lbgineer, for criticisms of Chapters 11, 111, and IV, and for his kindly interest throughout the study. Mr. A. 0. Hasterlo, District Guide, because of his personal acquaintance with all parts of the project, gave me many useful sw;gest ions. To my father, Mr. A. E. Olson, I am indebted for valuable aid in describing local economic conditions, and for the use of a?, automobile throughout the period of study. Various members of the staff of the Department of Geography at the University of ITebraska ha.ve criticized all or part of the manuscript--Dr. Nels A. Sengtson, Dr. Willem Van Royen, Dr. Earl E.

Lackey, and Dr. Esther 9. Anderson. Tne most valuable criticisms have been those of Dr. Bengtson, who has sponsored and supervised the entfre study, and ml~o has given much time and attention to Its successful completion. Dr. Vera E. Rigdon, of the University of Rebraska Extension Division, helped me both to unsplit infinitives and to smooth out rough places in ~vordingand phrasing. Ernest Gross, my friend and fellow thesis-penner, gave me much nmoral sup-)art '1 and encouragement during the trying weeks of miting and rewriting. Most of the pictures inclukd in the thesis were taken by Mr. Francis Dischner, official photographer for the Loup River Public Power District. Mr. Vernon Dalby and Mr. Aulton Roland prepared ell the drawings and inaps from original engineering maps secured from the District office. Niss Doris and Kiss Bee Andrew8 typed the entire manuscript, and Hiss Helen Ransen did most of the proof-reading. To all these and scores of unnamed assistants, nho wittingly or unwittingly aided me in this study, I gladly dedicate my efforts.

Ralph E. Olson. CHAPTER I ImTRODucTION

The Loup River Public Power District Project is a Jb12,000,000 hydro-electric development on the lower Loup River in east central Bebraska. Its construction was made possible by a nuuber of loans and grants from the federal Public Works Administrac t ion in Washington. Actual work on the project was begun in the fall of 199, and completion is expected by July 1, 1937. A careful preliminary survey whioh was financed by contributions from business men and other interested citizens of the Columbus community indicated the project would be feasible from an engineering standpoint, and the request for funds was granted by the PWA' under its right to lend financial aid to self-liquidat ing corporationen as part of the federal program for alleviating the national unemployment situation. Physically, the project involves the diversion of water from the north side of the Loup River at a point about six miles southwest of Genoa into a

1. Comon usage has approved this abbreviation for Public Works Administrat ion. 2 low-gradient earth canal 35 miles long. This canal carries the water across the flood plain and onto a terrace, from which it is dropped twice to turn turbines before it is finally led back into the Platte River three miles southeast of Columbus, directly below the confluence of that river with the Loup. The first of the two power houses, located one mile northwest of the little village of Monroe, utilizee a %headn of 32 feet to develop 9,600 horsepower through three hydro-electric unit s. The second and larger power house, built on the edge of the high Shell Creek Terrace about two miles northeast of Columbus, uses a water drop of 112 feet to generate 54,000 horsepower in three turbine units, each of 1$,000 horsepower capacity. The flow of water into the Columbus plant is controlled by a 1,000-acre regulating reservoir, the lower end of which is slightly more than a mile above the intake at the power hause. (Fig. 1, p. 9) The electricity generated by these two plants, at bdonroe and Columbus, is to be distributed throughout much of eastern Hebraska by a system of transmission lines not only to the larger cities and towns, but also to many rural districts not previously supplied with electrical power. It is hoped that this new supply of cheap power will attract new capital and new industries to the area served and thereby provide to those already living there new economic strength and afford them greater possibilities for cultural development.

The Loup River hydro-electric project is a subject of immediate interest to the geographer. It is the task of the geographer to describe and inteqret the face of the earth.' The *face of the earthn includes two broad groups of phenomena, oftan designated as (1) the natural landscape, and (2) the cultural landscape. Embodied in the term natural landscape are the various forms and properties of rock, water, and air which serve as a stage for the drama of life, and also those forms of plant and animal life which owe neither their occurrence nor the nature of their distribution to human activity. The cultural landscape is, briefly, all the rest. And this "rest Usnot inconsiderable, for on Nature's

1. Preston James, An Outline of GeoQ;raphx, Boston, 1935, PP.- s11. broad background of earth and sea and sky, man has etched a number of things--he has built houses and roads, he has dug mines and bored tunnels, planted crops and raised livestock, laid cables and strung telephone wires, cut trees and carbed tomb- stones, plowed prairies and built universities. Man is a very energetic and ingenious little animal. How much these sundry activities of man are modified by the character of the natural landscape about him and how much they are due to the organic forces within him is a question which biologists and sociologist s (and geographers! ) have argued for ages. !?he relative influence of environment and heredity in controlling human destiny is still one of the great unsolved problems. Nevertheless, no trrPe scientist will deny that the importance of the natural factors in regulating the direction in which man expends his energy is great indeed. Man' a capacity for rational behavior and his ability to profit by experience guide him in avoiding swamps with his railroads, in choosing fertile soils for his crops, and in building tight houses for protection against cold winters. It is wrong, ;lowever, to think of the natural landscape as a fixed and permanent mold into which the human race must fit, will or no, for that very energy and ingenuity with which man is by nature endowed makes him capable of adapting and modifying that mold better to suit his needs and desires. WHuman geography recognizes that human energy should be classed among the moat potent factors that tend to change the crust of our planet ...... By taking for his needs food and material wherever he finds them, by depriving the soil of its wealth, and by subduing in warious ways the natural forces placed at his disposal, man reacts upon his environment modifies it and gives it his own stamp. n? The Loup River Public Power District Project is a courageous attempt by man to harness the Lmp River for the production of hydro-electric power-- power which he then intends to use to increase his own productive capacity and, consequently, his om wealth and comfort. Undoubtedly, there are aspects of the natural environment in the lower Loup area which favor the construction of such a project. Juat as truly, there are other aspects which make such construction difficult, which limit ib extent and confine its possibilities. Similarly, there are aspects of the cultural environment, econonic and

1. Jean Brunhes, "Human Geographyn, Chapter I1 of The History -+%L----and Pro ect of the Social Sciences, edited by arry Elmer Barnes, Rew York, 1925. social factors, which axe either favorable or unfavorable to its location, construction, and operation. Nature and man modify and are modified by each other. The somewhat flexible zone of adaptation which characterizes both is the "sphere of interest' within which the human geographer assumes responsibility and stakes out his work. 'Ifuman geography inquires then, by observation and interpretation of the facts, to what degree the influence of natural forces is exercised on the various forms of human activity and to what extent mankind has reacted at the suggesti n of, or counter to, the natural forces.' f It is the major nurpose of this paper to describe that segment of the total environment wnich is the Loup River Public Power District Project, to show how it is limited by and adapted to the natural and cultural environment and to suggest some of the economic and socia3 effects on the local region. Brief consideration is given to the relation of this project to the broader sociaJ. and economic program of a wise development of natural resources. The writer feels that he has a rather intimate and peculiar right to concern himself With the Loup 7 River Public Power District Project, for he has lived all his life--except during university years--in Platte County, of which the city of Columbus is the county seat. Xoreover, his parents have lived on a farm in that county for over fifty years and expect to buy, in 1937, their first kilowatt of electricity from the Loup River Public Power District. The family kerosene lamps have served for a long time, but in a few months they can be put away in the store-room for a permanent rest. Prior to this study, no systematic description and interpretation of the Loup Project has been attempted so far as the writer has been able to discover. Aside from the preliminary engineering survey report and non-technical newepaper accounts, little mention of the project has been made in print. For thie reason practically all of the investigation, including the field work, had to be done in the immediate vicinity of the project. The writer spent six weeks in Columbus and at various points along the route of the canal during the scorching days of July and August, 1936, and has since been back to the scene of the project sever8.l times to check his notes and bring them up to date. He has pored over miles of $ newspaper columns and puzzled over hundreds of complex engineers' drawings. He has trudged on foot over many sections of the project with shovel, yardstick, and notebook. He has conferred with administrators, engineers, super intendent s, foremen, and laborers employed by the District, and has discussed the project with business and professional men of Columbus and with farmers along the route who have favored or fought its construction, depending on the nature of their individual economic interests or prejudices. From a personal standpoint, he has found the study intensely interesting. The following pages will determine whether or not he has increased the content and substantiated the claims of systematic geography.

Chapter I1 AN EVALUATION OF THE LOIVER LOUP d- NAJATURAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS AFFECTING HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWEFI DEVELOPMENT

The Loup River project is located near the eastern edge of the areat Plains, about 85 ailee west of Omaha. The city of Coluplbus, near the site of the larger of the two power houses, is the county seat of Platte County, and a thriving market center in a productive agricultural district. Its population in 1930 we 6,898. This spot was chosen for er4tlement by a group of twelve enter- prising pioneers in the spring of 1856 because it was here that many of the west-bound wagon trains forded the Loup, and it was believed that a prosperous ferry business could be built up. A few years later it was Included on the route of the first trans- continental railroad, the Union Pacific, and it has since been connected with a branch line of the Burlington. With the arrival of motor transportation, Columbue still holds a favored location, for It Is on the Junction of two of the leading federal roads, U. 8. Highway No. 30 (Lincoln Highway) and U. 9. Highway No. 81 (Meridian Highway). Nebraska State

-- 1. In this thesis the term qower Loup area* Is not used In an exact or restricted sense. The word Highway No. 22 connects Columbus with Monroe and Cenoa, smaller towns located along the route of the power ,canal. With such favorable transportation factors and a more Inteneive use of agrloultural resources, the Columbus area may reasonably be expected to progress in economic development as the population of the state Increases. Moreover, being only about 85 miles west of Omaha, the metropolis .! ,- t of the state, and 80 miles northwest of Lincoln, the capital, the power project at Columbus has access to a large urban market. The climate of the Columbus area is typical of eastern Nebsmxka--sub-humld with a summer maximum of rainfall. The mean annual precipitation is about 26 inches, of whlch more than half (57 per cent) falls during the four months from May to August inclusive. The extremes of summer heat and winter cold whlch prevail in Nebraska have direct effects on the construction and operation of the power project. Evaporation of water from canal and reservolr surfaces in summer, the tuck Ice cover which forms over the slowly moving water hnd the frost-cracking of canal and reservolr bank8 In winter present problems for eolution by the engineer. 'Fne geographical ------'area" lie here used to Include broadly all places occupied or directly affected by the Loup proJect. 12 aspects of these problems will be dealt with in somewhat more detail in Chapters IV and V. Rains of more than an inch or two are uncommon in eastern Nebraska, but the few which came during the period of construction (1934-1937) caused considerable Inconvenience and expense by eroding canal banks and earth fills and by flooding private property adjacent to the District(s right-of-way. No four- or five-inch rains, such as occur occasionally in this section of the country, have fallen since the power canal was excavated. In several Instances the District has had to pay damages to farmers for flooded fields because the canal or reservoir embankments hindered the natural drainage. Except along the inner margins of the flood plains of the Platte and Loup rivers, the natural vegetation of thie portion of Nebraska is prairie. Considerable area of poorly drained bottomland and smaller sandy spots on the terraces are used only for summer pasture or the harvest of wild hay. The trees along the stream banks are of several varieties, chiefly ash, willow, hackberry, cottonwood, and boxelder. They elther are not large enough or are not of hlgh enough quality for lumber, although they 13 have some local value for firewood and fence posts. The trees also serve as windbreaks, help to prevent erosion, and provide shade anel scenic beauty for parks. 1 The construction of the uup River Public Power District Project necessitated the removal of trees from more than 100 acres in the vicinity of the diversion structures and the clearing of a smaller section around the lower end of the canal. (Figs. 2 and3 ) With the exception of the willow brush, much of which was used by contractors in making rlprap for reinforcing the restraining walls and dikes around the head of the canal, this wood was usually donated by the District to local citizens who would remove it from the premises.2 If the natural vegetation of both upland and lowland In eastern Nebraska had been forest, the construction of the Loup power project would have been much more expensive and possibly Impractical from an economic standpoint. At any rate, decaying tree roots would certainly have left a sieve- like bottom for the earth canal which Is the principal physical feature of the project.

1. Facts mainly from Soil Survey of Platte County, Nebraska, U. S. Dep't. of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, No. 42, Series 1923. 2. Some was sold for a dollar ($1.00) per truckload. Figure 2 Clearing and grubbing at the headworks site in preparation for earth excavation, ~uly,1936, s:;:-

Ti,. ., =

~LSILTINCT8~51~ IN RLAR, Auu 23,193L

Section of upger portion of canal showing area cleared of trees for desilting basin excavation, Site of diversion structures in extreme background, Road pictured at right of cmal is State Highway No. 22. 16 The well-drained loamy sands, sandy loams, and silt loams of the flood plain are, for the most part. devoted to the same agricultura,l crops which characterize the upland soils of the region, naasely soh, oats,, wheat, and alfalfa. Moat of the farms range in size from 80 to 320 acres, with quarter-section farms being most typical. To obtain the right-of-way needed for the construction of the project, the officers of the power district had to purchase about 3,750 acres of land in RTance and Platte countlee, of which about 90 per cent was good crop land. All of this agricultural land is now permanently w1thdrs.m from production. The Loup River Is the largest tributary of the Platte system belo* the confluence of the North Platte and the South Platte. It also forms the largest drainage basin to be entirely included within the boundaries of Nebraska. During the late summer and autumn monthe when, because of underground removal, diversion for Irrigation, and surface evaporation, the Platte River below Grand Island Is dry or nearly eo, it la water from the Loup and, to a lesser extent, from the Elkhorn which gives the Platte River a sembla.nce of respect as it debouches into the Missouri. The drainage basin of the Loup River occupies an area of approximately 14,880 square miles in north central and western Mebraah. The rlver rises at an elevation of about 3,930 feet and discharges Into the Platte at an elevation of approximetely 1,415 feet. At the point where water is biverted. from the Laup into the Districtte canal, six miles southwest of

Genoa, the normal river surface has an elevs.tion of about 1,575 feet. The mean annual precipitation over the drainage basin as a whole is about 22 inches, and the mean annual run-off is 10.5 per cent of the total, or 2.3 inches. 1 Variation in the seasonal flow is a factor of vital importance in determining whether or not a river is economlc~.llyadaptable to hydro-electric development. Compared with such larger Great Plains rlvera as the Platte and the Arkansas, the Loup River is unusually steady in its flow throughout the year. Whereas the Kearney-Sutherland power and Irrigation project?on the North Platte rlver required the construction of a large reservoir for storing up water during the period of

1. S~ecialSurvey Report of the (Nebraska) Department of Public Works, Bureau of Irrigation, Water Power, and Drainage, 1931, p. 182. 2. Technically the Platte Valley Public Power and Irrlg8,tion District Project. 1t3 spring floods so that an even supply might be maintained during the dry summer months, the Loup project required only a relatively small regulating reservoir. The reason for the regularity of flow of the Loup River lies in the aature 4f its upper drainage basin. All its important tributaries rise In the Sand Hill region, where they are fed by scores of springs, shallow lakes, and marshes. Instead of having e. high percentage of surface run-off, such as characterizes rolling areas with clay soils, this region quickly s.bsorbs Into its sandy surface all the precipitation whlch falls. Slmly moving downward through the porous sands, the water eventually reappears at the surface In low-lying lakes whlch then overflow their banks fonnlng streame. These small tree-line6 streams, picking their way between grass-covered sand dunes, give beauty to an otherwise drab and monotonous landscape, and by providing water for the range cattle they add appreciably to the value of all ranches which they cross. Scarcely rising or falling more than a few inches throughout the year, these tributaries from the Sand Hills feed into the lower Loup a volume of water whlch varies less than the volume of any other river of similar size on the Great ~1ains.l (Fig. 4)

1. An individual discussion of the maJor tributaries of the Loup River does not come witNn the scope of this

From a study of precipi8h%ion and run-off maps prepared by the United Statee Weather Bureau, it hae been estimated by state engineers that the mean discharge of the Loup at Columbus is 2,454 cubic feet per sec0nd.l After making hydrographs from their own discharge meaeuremente and from records of the United States Geological Survey, the engineers employed by the Loup River Public Power District arrived at a somewhat lower figure, about 2,250 cubic feet per second. The minor tributary streams which enter the Loup between the site of the proJect headworks and the end of the tailrace apparently add little more than enough to make up for losses from evaporation and eeepage. 2 Daily d1scha.rge records of the Loup River at Genoa are complete for the year 1930 (U.S.G.S. Records), when a mean discharge of 2,680 second feet was observed. The total run-off during that year was 1,980,000 acre thesis. A brief treatment of their hydrographic and physiographic characteristics and a summary of their economic importance, including estimates of irrigable land may be found in the Special Survey Report of the De~artmentof Public Worke. Bureau of Irrigation. Water power and Drainage, of the- state of ~ebrasL,lgjl, pp. 180-202. 1. Special Survey Re~ort,op. cit., p. 198.

2. Personal conference with Mr. C. H. James, Engineer, Harza Engineering Company. 21 feet. The maximum discharge w~s10,600 second feet, observed on February 16, and the minimum estimated at 550 second feet was recorded for each aay from December 1 to December 5. Under normal conditions, the period of least dlscharge comes in the early winter when the river first freezes over, and the time of greatest discharge accompanies the 8pPlng thaws. The all-time minimum recorded flow seems to be that mentioned for the first days of December, 1930, while the all-time maximum--so far as the writer has been able to discover-- oaae during the heavy rains of July and August, 1903, when seven discharge records of more than 10,000 second feet were obtained. The peak flow of 20,000 second feet was recorded on August 27 of that year. 1 The Loup River Public Power District, after a disagreement with power and irrigation compa.nles on the North and Middle Loups, was granted a right by the State of Nebraska to divert a maximum of 3,500 aublc feet of water per second. Since the Nebraska state constitution provides that *when the waters of any natural stream are not sufficient for the use of all those desiring to use the same, those using the water for domestic purposes shall have

1. S~ecialSurvey Report, OD. cit., pp. 1g0-202. Engineer Fred Albert in a ersonal conference at Columbus Informal the writer that t ge lowest actual measurement at preference over those claiming It for any other purpose, and those using the water for agricultural pnrposee ahall have the preference over those using the same for manuf acturing purposes.wl Accordingly tbe North Loup project and the Middle LOUD proJect are guaranteed 260 second feet and 300 second feet, respectively, if needed, before any water can legally be diverted at Genoa. 2 The capacity of the District's canal over most of its length and the maxllrrmP flow which can be utilized by the &woe power house is 3,000 ssaond feet. It Is expected that, In order to run the Monroe plant at capacity, evsporation and seepage will necessitate the diversion of about 3,200 second feet at the diversion weir. This amount of water will usually be available during only three or four months of the year. pcept durlng thcaemonths when melting snow and heavy rainfall provide a flow of more than 3,000 second feet (or whatever lesser flow market conditions for the electrical output may require), the

Genoa is 744 second feet, recorded by District Engineers on January 2, 1935. According to District hydrographs. the all-time peak flow of 39,700 second feet came in June, 1905. 1. Constitution of the State of Nebraska, Article XV, Section 6. 2. 2 Columbus Dailg Telemm, December $, 18, and 27, 1933. 23 Louo for several miles below the point of diversion will be practioally a dry valley. Hot autumn winds will blow the sterile sand Into ripples like those on the bed of the Platte, a few miles to the south, and Jack rabbits will scamper across the deserted channel in search of occasional pools where ground water mag find Its way to the surfa.ce. Four minor tributaries of the Platte-Loup system are intersected by the Loup River Public Power District canal; Beaver Creek, Looking Glass Creek, Cherry Creek. and Lost Creek. The last named is crossed twice by the canal, first about two and one-half miles north of the village of Oconee (Sec. 27, Town. 18 N., Range 2 W.) and again about a mile north of the tailrace weir (Sec. 26, Town. 17 N., Range 1 E.). Permanent streams are encountered by the canal at Beaver Creek, Looktng Glass Creek, and the second crossing of Lost Creek. Frequently after heavy rains these small creeks rise and overflow their banks, attaining for a few hours true river proportions. The preliminary engineering plans of the Loup River proJect provided for the construction of storage reservoirs on all four of these minor drainage lines. The purpose of the reservoirs was to furnish water to the canal when the Loup River was in low stages and to regulate the flow in the canal 24 at all times.' A more complete study of the physical and economic problems involved in the construction and maintenance of so many reservoirs brought about the abandonment of these plans. It was feared that the creeks, draining for the moet part cultivated land, would carry so much silt during their flood stages that they would soon fill up the reservoirs and choke the canal. Moreover, the cost of buying more than - 3,000 acres of land for reservoirs alone and of maintaining the necessary dikes was, of itself, almost prohibitive. Furthermore, it was concluded that the flow of the Loup was so regular that storage reservoire were unnecessary--hence the abandonment of all reservoir plans except that of the present Lake Babcock. .--- The purpose of Lake Babcock, which covers about 1,000 acres, is not for reserve during periods of low river discharge but merely for handling the canal water during the hours of the day when the demand load is so light as not to require the operation of the Columbus plant. Some of the problems arising from the interruption of the natural drainage in the vicinity of the project are discussed in Chapter IV under such topics as drainage ditches, siphons, culverts, and inlets. 1. The Columbus Daily Telemam, November 27, 1933, second section, p. 1. Relief and the textural characteristics of the surface material have been dominant factors in facilitating the construct ion of the Loup River project and in delimiting its possibilities. Eastern Nebraska has no Grand Canyon in wnich to place a dam 700 feet high. It has no precipitous valley walls to form a natural reservoir holding 30 million acre feet of water. It has no Grand Coulee with a sharp declivity of 400 feet over wnich its rivers can be diverted. In brief, it is not conspicuously adapted for hydro-electric development. The pioneers who came to eastern Nebraska in the latter half of the nineteenth century were impressed with the flatness of the landscape. With rare exceptions, they did not dream that factories would follow the footsteps of the breaking plow in the westward march across the plains. Nature's gentle contours were to be mantled undisturbed under a patchwork of houses and fields and roa.ds. The rivers were to continue without interruption their leisurely meandering back and forth across wide valleys, leaving here and there an occasional sand bar which, if not erased by a shifting current, might take on a cover of weeds and shrubby willows. Bedrock does not outcrop at any point within the area occupied by the Loup River project. The Niobrara 26 chalk rock, which is the uppermost consolidated layer, does, however, lie near enough to the surface--within 12 feet--to serve as a firm support for the steel sheet pilings beneath the diversion dam. Above the Niobrara formation is a series of beds of clay, sand, and gravel, generally considered to be fluviaJ. inwash- outwash deposits. These beds have been recognized by Lugn as four formations.' Briefly summarized they are as follows: (1) -The Holdrege formation, consisting of sand and gravel, generally coarse near the base and finer toward the top, with an average thickness of about 70-75 feet. It is thought to have been formed by the extremely active sedimentation during the Ttebraskan glacial epoch, partly of till outwash and partly of fluvial materials carried southeastward from the higher plains to the west. Deposited on a somewhat irregular bedrock surface, the Holdrege formation varies considerably in thickness, from 0 to 120 feet or more. It is known to occur more or less continuously over an area of 15,000 square miles, mainly in south central

1. Lugn, A. L., The Pleistocene Geoloay of Nebraska, 1935, pp. gg-m. Nebraska. Since it is not known to outcrop at any place along the Platte valley, being known in this section of the state only from well logs, it is perhaps 1 of little significance for this study. (2) -The Fullerton formation is a widespread and more or less continuous sheet-like deposit of dark caicareous silt and clay, sometimes quite sandy. Cccupying approximately the same area as the Holdrege formation, it ranges in thickness from 0 to 65 feet aith an averge of 20 to 35 feet. The Fullerton formation rests conformably upon the Holdrege formation and is thought to have been formed during the Aftonian inter-glacial epoch when less active erosion limited sedimentation to fine alluvial material and eolian sand and clay. It outcrops at the base of the Lovers' Leap bluff, on the south side of Cedar Creek, about one mile northwest of Fullerton in Nance County. In a few places, where the overlying sands and gravels do not furnish an adequate supply of water, wells have been drilled through the f ine-textured Fullerton clay to the saturated gravels of the Holdrege format ion.

1. The Holdrege formation is exposed at several places along the Niobraxa River and may be expected at some points along the Republican. Following its deposit ion the Fullerton format ion under- went considerable erosion. (3) -The Grand Island formation is a depositional sheet of alluvial sand and gravel ranging in thickness from 30 to perhaps 150 feet, and resting unconforrnably on the Fullerton formation. The average thickness seems to be about 75 feet. The areal. extent of this formation seems to be about the same as the Holdrege, but it is more continuous, extending as a broad sheet over the level plains of south central Nebraska at least as far north as the Platte valley. Similarity to the Holdrege formation indicates that it is the latter' e depositional equivalent, being laid down during the Kansan glacial period. From the bottom up, the texture of the deposits in this formation tend to become finer and finer, changing from coarse gravel to fine sand. It is even possible that the upper few feet have principally an eolian origin. Though it has undergone considerable erosion, the lower part of the format ion extends continuously across and under the Platte and lower Loup valleys to the upland on the north side. The Grand Island sands and gravels yield an excellent apply of pure water for domestic use over most of this section of the state, and the numerous 29 outcrops along the Platte and Loup valleys and else- where furnish practically an unlimited supply of sand and gravel for industrial purposes. (4) Conformably overlying the Grand Island gravels and sands is a bed of greenish-gray clay and fine greenish sand known as the U~landformation. It ranges in thickness UTI to about 35 feet , but is generally not thicker than 5 to 12 feet. It was apparently formed during the Yarmouth int er-glacial period following the retreat of the Kansan ice sheet, probably under erosional conditions very similar to those of the Aftonian period. After deposition the Yarmouth format ion was exposed long enough to form a 6 to $ inch layer of dark-colored soil, still evident at the top of the bed in many outcrops. Post-Yarmouth erosion removed the bed in many places, leaving its present distribution "pat thy" and discontinuous . The four format ions just described constitute vhat has recently been called the Platte 8eries.l Well cores and exposures along tributary streams and deep road cuts indicate that these four beds, near Columbus, with the possible exception of the Upland formation, extend continuously across the wide Platte flood plain

1. Lugn, 2. G.,p. 24. and terraces and for a considerable distance on either side. The beds all dip gently toward the south and east, permitting water to escape from the Platte valley through the porous sands and gravels to the Republican valley which lies some 100 feet lower. These sloping subsurface beds help to account for the striking lack of tributaries entering the Platte from the south. The format ions which make up the Platte series are overlaid in most places by two thick beds of loess and loess-like materials, together classified as the Plains series.' These are the Loveland formation, a reddish, often sandy, clay of complex, but generally eolian, origin, and the Peorian formation, a buff- colored, floury silt and clay deposited by wind on the deeply dissected and often soil-covered surface of the Loveland. These two loess form,?tions are much more sidespread than the formations of the Platte series, as they mantle an area of more than 40,000 square miles in the eastern and southern parts of the state. The thickness varies, but generally it increases toward the west. Five miles southwest of Genoa, near the site of the headworks of the Loup River Public Power District Project, the river has recently out back into the upland exposing in the steep bluff about 65 feet of Peorian yellowish clay overlying more than 90 feet of the reddish Loveland 1 clay. The age of the Platte valley through Nance and Platte counties is evidently post-Loveland and pre- Peorian, for the Loveland loess ends abruptly at the inner margins of the upland, while the Peorian covers to a depth of several feet nearly all of the terrace areas and even some sections of the flood plain. Into this level to rolling surfa.ce of southeastward-sloping unconsolidated beds of gravel, sand, silt, and clay, the Platte River has cut a broad valley 100 to 200 feet below the surface of the adjacent uplands. The flood plain of the Platte joins the flood plain of the Loup near the town of Fullerton, and from there to Columbus and beyond, the combined valleys have a width of 10 to 15 miles. The unusual width of this middle section of the Platte valley, the braided stream channel, md the deep beds of unconsolidated gravel, sand, and finer material led geologists to believe that this was a filled valley. Until the last decade it was assumed without question that the Platte River once flowed at a lower level through this middle section of its valley, and that by a process of aggradatian it gradually raised the valley floor to the present level. TLis concept has been vigorously challenged by Dr. A. L. Lugn, of the University of Nebraska, who with an imposing array of geologic sections taken from exposures and well logs maintains that the Platte is, or was until very recent times, a degrading rather than an aggrading stream. Dr. Lugnls conclusion is that the Platte River since the Yarmouth inter-glacial epoch has cut down into the Loveland loess and the broad sheets of fluvio- glacial inwash-outwash deposits until it is now flowing on the gravels of the Grand Island formation. It has removed the Loveland loess, the fine clay and sand of the Upland formztion, and the upper sandy beds of the Grand Island formation, finally exposing such coarse gravels that percolation has robbed the river of most of its erosive power. Its capacity for down-cutting is further sapped by evaporation and the removal of water from the channel for irrigation purposes. At the present time the river is no longer degrading, except possibly during t inzes of flood, but is merely reworking a fern inches of sediment at 33 the surface into sand bt~rsand islands of variegated shapes and shifting dimensions. In a few places, such as between the channels of the Loup and the Platte in the southern part of Platte County, the wind has blown the finer sands of the Grand Island f ormation into dunes which prairie grasses have often failed to make permanent. Fortunately, f mn an agricultural standpoint, the calcareous Peorian loess was deposited on top of the sterile sands end gravels of the Platte heri-aces and outer flood plain, =king possible the development of silty and loamy soils of high productivity. Fortunzte it was, too, for the Loup River Public Power District, since without this fine- textured base a wat er-bearing canal could never have been built along the flood plain and terrace north of the Loup channel. For facilitating a discussion of the adaptation of the Loup hydro-electric project to the lanci forms of the area, it seems advisable to consider all the features of the cogbined Platte-Lou-i valley as forming part of one physiographic unit, the Platte Plain. Only the north side of this plain, from the Loup River channel and northmrd, is of direct importance for this study. The Loup River in its lower course is a shallow stream with a channel width usually less than 1,000 feet, The gradients of the stream and the valley are approximately equal, with a descent of six to seven feet per linear mile. Under ordinary conditions the Loup River stays within its banks, but occasiona3ly a heavy rain causes it to rise and overflow the lower sect ions of the flood plain.' The flood plain, varying in width from one-eighth of a mile to about two miles, is commonly less than five feet above the average I level of the river , and some parts of it#, as around the village of hfonroe, are rather poorly drained. In only one place along the route of the canal, aboue five miles southwest of Genoa, does the river curve against its northern valley wall so as practically to obliterate the flood plain. Over most of the course, the flood plain is bordered by one or more alluvial terraces, formed by the river when it flowed at a higher elevation. These terraces vary considerably in elevation and extent, but, taken as a chole, they occupy a much greater area than the flood plain. Ordinarily, the inner front of the terrace is abrupt, while the outer edge slopes gradually toward the upland. Although not well defined, the terraces vary

1. Soil Surve of Platte County, Nebraska, op. cit., nn.-ti-+ 1 27-1 26; 35 in height from a few feet above the flood plain to 75 or 100 feet, as in the Shell Creek Terrace. The Shell Creek Terrace is a high loess-covered bench, first evident a few miles northeast of Oconee, from where it broadens to a width of 4 miles along the eastern edge of PZatte County. It extends east- rsard several miles beyond the county boundary and terminates north of Schuyler in the southern part of Colfax county.l 8izell Creek, after which the terrace was named, is an east-flowing tributary of the Loup which has cut into the north side of the terrace. It is a small sprins-fed stream, nearly paralleling the Loup for a distance of forty miles, and finally joining it east of Schuyler. It is not cut by the Power District ' s canal, but the canal right-of-way was only about 115 feet to the south of it near the west side of Sec. 28, Town. 18 N., 3anqe 1 E., until a new channel was made for Shell Creek somewhat farther north. The surface of the terrace is undulating to gently rolling, as tributary drainages to Shell Creek on the north and to the Loup River on the south have begun the process of dissection. Lower areas of alluvial land border it on the south, west, and north. This high terrace remnant deserves recognition for its important part in the physical background of the hydro- electric project, for the canal follows it at least miles, Lake Babcock is located upon it, and the Columbus Rover house is situated at the base of its steep southern fro&. The north aide of the Platte Plain is admirably adapted for the construct ion of a low-gradient canal. With practically no deep cuts and few important fills, the 35-mile ditch carries the water from the Loup and returns it to the Platte at a gradient of approximately three inches per mile. It cross from the flood plains of the Loup River and Beaver Creek west of Genoa onto a low terrace which it f ollows as far as the Xonroe power house. Here the water is dropped through the turbines a vertical distance of 32 feet, back to the Lmp flood plain. Soon it is back on another terrace, and 8s it moves eastward it rises higher and higher above the more steeply grading Loup channel and flood plain. To Wea minimum cut, the canal route at first avoids the highest part of the Shell Creek Terrace, staying on the north side of the divide in the Shell Creek drainage area for a 37 distance of some five or six miles. Then, after leaving Lake Babcock, the canal vater crosses to the south side of the terrace and is dropped 112 f.eet through three steel penstocks into the Columbus power house. Back on the flood plain the water is caxried southeastward and then southward through the tailrace canal to the Platte River. Construction of the Loup project was facilitated by the presence of a number of the required basic materials along the Loup and Platte valleys within easy hauling distance. Gravel, needed in tnousands of tons, was pumped from the banks of both rivers and put in piles to be hauled away by notor trucks. (Fig-s. 5 and 6 ) Some of the major uses of qravel in connection with the project were for surfacing temporary (or permanent) rnotor roads and railway sidings and for foundation fill beneath concrete and steel structures. A gravel base was used for sup?orting ,the weight of the huge penstocks at the Columbus power housb. Sand, too, vas required by the project in enormous quantities, mainly for making concrete. The numerous sand pits along the valley experienced a thriving business throughout the period of construct ion. Cement, an important item in such a project, is not available Figure 5 Gravel pumping and grading between uFper end of cmal and Loup River, Scenes such as this are common dong the lower Loup and Platte rivers in eastern Nebraska. Figure 6 Position of gravel pit near project headworks with relation to Loup River* along the Loup River, for there are no limestone outcrops and, consequently, no factories. Such outcrops do occur, however, along the Platte River in eastern ReSraska, and with a haul of less than a hundred miles from the cement plant at Louisville a high grade product was available at the site of the project. Theavailability of these three products, gravel, sand, and cement, is a factor of primary importance in determining the cost of hydro-electric development, for the freight charges in transporting such heavy materials mltiply rapidly. It might also be mentioned in this connection that without the cover of silt and clay (Peorian loess) on the terraces and outer flood plain, seepage of water from the canal would have been much greater. Over parts of its length where the canal flows on a bed of sand it mas found necessary to line the canal bottom and inner slopes vith finer-textured clay, and if the clay had not been so readily available this would scaxcely have been possible. Heavy construction in Nebraska is handicapped by the lack of certain other basic materials. For instance, the Loup River power project had to rely on the forests of the Pacific states for transmission line poles and on the mills of the Great Lakes states for hundreds of carloads of structural steel. The availability of materials is a geographic factor of vital importance to contractors and construction engineers.

Hydro-electric development on the Great Plains is handicapped not only by physical conditions, such as a lack of "fall lines" and natural reservoirs, but by human, or cultural, conditions as well. The relative eparseness of the population (compared with eastern United States ) and the distribution of a large per centage of the population i~risolated family unite on individual farms make necessary long transnission distances per unit of electrical market. Moreover, the relative unimportance of manufacturing in the economy of the cities of eastern Nebraska--with the possible exception of Omaha--tends to make the market for electrical power even in the urban centers quite lir~ited. A factor in favor of water power development in this etate, however, is the absence of the usual competitors, the mi= raJ. fuels. Coal, oil, and natural gas ham not been found within the borders of Rebraaka in conmercially exploitable quantities. A brief study of recent population trends in Platte County shows some interesting development a: k%ber 'Percen t Increase Increase Platte County . . . . 19,464 21,164. 1,700 8.7 wral rea as . . . . . 11,170 11,367 197 1.7 Villages* ...... 2,1564 2,901 15 .5 city of columbus . . 5,41~ 6,S96 1,486 27.5 -State of Nebraska .1,296,3721577,963 61,591 6.3 *Humphrey, Platte Center, Lindsay, Creston, Monroe, Duncan, Cornlea, and Tarnov. From these figures it is evident that the population of the county as a whole is increasing normally, that is, at about the same rate as the population of the state. More than half of the total population of the county is classed as rural, though the percentage of rural population is slowly decreasing. The rural areas seem to have reached a point of virtual saturation under present agricultural conditions. The eight villages, due to improved roads and aut omobiles, heavy indebted- ness, and bank failures, have been struggling to hold their own, with four of them actually showing a decline during the ten-year period. The city of Columbus, however, showed a marked increase in population, accounting for $7.4 per cent o? the total increase for the county. A civic and industrial survey of Columbus in 1934 found that the population had grown to 7,521, a further increase of 9.1 per cent in four years,L These figures would seem to indicate that any important increase in population in the near future will be confined to Columbus, and that, within Platte County, there is where the market for electricity is most likely to expand.

1. Survey made by 3. F. Durr and Co Engineers, Lincoln, Nebraska, 19 (Unpbblished report). Though no substantiating statistics are available, it is probable that the rural population of the county has declined since 1930. The low prices of agricultural products during the depression years and the crop failures which accompanied the severe droughts of 1934 and 1936 wrought economic havoc among the debt-burdened farmers. Many lost their farms and only with the aid of federal loans were they able to keep a few work animals and milk cows. Others, disheartened by their failure to make a living in Nebraska, sold their private property and left the state. Dozens of families "sold out# and went west, to California, Oregon, and Washington. A few have returned to Nebraska; the majority of them have not. A representative case is that of the nearest neighbors of the miter's parents. This family, like most American farm families, profited by the high grain and livestock prices of the World PDar period. In 1918 it boasted of a debt-free farm of 320 acres. Feeling prosperous, the family bought a farm of 160 acres and, on the upward wave of prices, resold it in a short time with a prof it of about $6,000. This money was spent as a down payment on a half section of other land in the vicinity. The price was $265.00 per acre. It seemed the wise thing to do--land values were rising--everyone was buying property. &@gages were given on all the land, including the home place, to secure the payment of the remaining obligation. For a few years all went well. Crops were good, prices were high, interest was paid, and a beginning was made on the principal of the debt. Then prices fell, drought years came, and interest payments lagged. The loans became due, and foreclosures were made. Bdortgage holders took over the farm, not only the two quarters bought after the war, but the home place as well. The accumlated deficit, including interest, amounted to about $40,000. No new loans were available. In the autumn of 1936, the family sold its household goods and a few remaining live animals, loaded in the family car, and left for Washington to try to make a new start. Beighbore gave them a fare- well party, for they were widely known and well respected in the community. Their going left an empty place in the neighborhood, because the pments had lived most of their lives on the same farm. The grandparents had homesteaded the place more than fifty years before. Among the farmers who have remained, there is much unrest and dissatisfaction. Land holdings change frequently, and short-term leases prebominat e. In the rural school district where the writeye parents live (~istrict63, Platte County), there are 28 farms. Between the 1936 and 1937 crop seasons, nine of these farms changed hands. Of the families which moved, one remained in the district, six moved out of the district but resettled in neighboring communities, and two left the state. Within the district, five of the vacated farms were rented by neighbors who thus added to their own holdings. Three of the houses on these farms will be unoccupied during the 1937 s-son. Three new families moved into the community. Bone of the residents of the district purchased new land in the district, but three former land owners lost their farms through mortgage f oreclasure. Such conditions as have just been described are not favorable for the sale of electricity in the rural sections of Platte County. The writer does not claim that the example given represents the whole situation. He merely oites it as an illustration of current rural economics in an area for which more general -fa are not available. While this unstable situation persist 6, there seem little likelihood that electricity can at present reach the living rooms of a majority of the farm homes in the county. Several tenants when asked whether or not they intended to buy electricity from the Loup River Public Power District said they did not know-they would if the landlord would wire the house and install the fixtures. The landlords did not seern eager to do this, especially since their share-rents during the last three years amounted to practically nothing. A declining percentage of home owners is an unfavorable situation, one reason beirig that it makes the addition of permanent improvements, such as the installation of electric lights, seem uneconomical and, hence, unnecessary. A more favorable aspect of the rural situation for the Loup River Public Power District is the fact that such a small percentage of the farms are now supplied with electricity. When better financial conditions return, a ready market for electricity lor both light and power may open up in the rural districts, A state survey by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) in 1934 showed that there were 2,174 farms in Platte County. Slightly more than half (53 per cent) of these farms were occupied by owners in that yeas. Of the 2,174 farms, only 114 were being supplied with electric it y from privately-owned power lines, and I a somewhat larger number were using small home plants. In answering questionnaires sent out by the Loup River Public Power District, a large majority of the farmers indicated their willingness to become

custoners of the District if satisfactory terms of purchase could be agreed upon. It is expected that the Rural Electrification Administration (RE.4) of the federal government will grant money for the oonstruction of rural lines, and that the farmers will be called upon to pay only for the dring and fixtures and the actual amount of electricity consumed. The rural market is a very flexible market, for, unlike in the cities, domestic use is not confined to lighting the home and operating a few household appliances. If economic conditions justify it, the farmer can illuminate his barn, chicken house, and other outbuildings, and use electric power to pump his water, grind his grain and feed, milk his cows, and even charge the wires in his pasture fence to keep out the neighboys bull.

1. Figures from a speech by Dewey DeBoer, Electrical Engineer, Harza Engineering Company, given at rural school District No. 40, Platte County, June 22, 1936. While the Loup River Public Power District has the right to supervise rural distribution directly only in Platte County, other counties may, if they choose, organize separate power districts under the REA and buy electricity where it is available. Up to

April $, 1937, nineteen rural power districts have been established in the state, several of which contemplate buying electricity from the Loup plant at Columbus. 1 The market for electricity in rural areas, however, seems to be limited by economic conditions to a rather slow development. Meanwhile, the Loup River Public Power District must rely upon the cities of eastern Nebraska as markets for most of its output. Here the District runs into direct competition with municipally-owned steam plants and %high lines-f privat ely-owned power companies. Urban homes and houses businessbe already supplied with electricity, though cheaper rates would probably induce them to consume more. The success of the Loup project will depend, in a large mearmre, upon its ability to produce electricity more cheaply than do the steam plants already established. The Loup District has sent

1. The Lincoln State Journal, April 8, 1937, evening edit ion. representatives to meet with administrative bodies in a number of cities and towns in eastern Nebraska with a view to inducing them to buy electricity from their plant. With some of these, tentative contracts have been drawn up, though final arrangement s await the fixing of a definite cost-scale. At the same time, the cost-scale will in itself be determined largely by the number of tentative contracts arranged. Economic interests of private and municipal power plants do not clash as directly with the Columbus plant as might seem apparent at first, for the companies operating steam plants are often glad to buy electricity from a hydro plant if the latter can produce and sell it more cheaply. As an example, the officials of the present power-distributing organization in Columbus have consistently expressed a willingness to buy electricity f rorn the Loup River Public Power District if and when it is shown that such a move would result in lower rates. Another favor able aspect of the market situation is the steady growth of population in the cities of eastern Nebraska. The rate of this growth in Columbus has already been noted. As the population increases the present steam power producing plants will become less and less able to meet the demand, and hydro- electric plants will be ready to step in and supnly the deficiency. This is, of course, contingent on the assumtion that the hydro plants will be able to prove themselves mre efficient. If the water power plants are successful in substantially reducing electricity costs, it is reasonable to believe that eastern Nebraska will experience a marked influx of manufacturing industries. Columbus civic boosters are proudly visioning the development of their city into an industrial metropolis based upon the chew power developed by the harnessing of the lower Loup. And why not? Why should the industrial establishments of such a well-located Nebraska city be limited to the milling of livestock feed, the processing of poultry and dairy ~roducts,the oanning of meate and vegetables, and the bottling of soft drinks for a small trade area? Outside of her neighboring smaller towns, Columbus is known industrially for little but the manufacture of wooden-soled shoes, worn by creamery workers and beach loungers. Is there any reason why Columbus should not attract a factory fot the making of leather shoes? Why should Iiebraska cowhidea be shipped to St. Louis or Chicago or Cincinnati to be made into shoes for Nebraska farmers and townspeople? Why should not leather shoes and a score of other products be made near the source of raw materials in eastern Nebraska? The answer is a matter of production cost s--ef ficiency. If hydro-electric vower can lower product ion costs, perhaps eastern industrial plants nil1 build branch factories in the cities of agricultural Nebraska so as to use this state's cheap hydro-elect r ic power. Rater power has been of much less relative importance in Nebraska than in the country as a whole up to the present time. During the nine years from 1923 to 193 inclusive the tot& production of electricity for public use in the United States was 707,350,061 thousand kilo~atts, of which 250,647,12$ thousand kilowatt s, or about 35 per cent, was produced by water power. During the same period in Nebraska the total product ion was 4,014,442 thousand kilowatts, of which 2gg,743 thousand kilowatts, or about 7 per cent, was produced by rater power. At the same time, in Nebraska, the totad production of electricity increased by gS ner cent, while the production by water power increased only 61 per cent.' Up to

1. %ecial Survey Re~ort,x. G.,pp. 389-390. 52

about 1932, for the country as a whole, hydro-electric power seemed to be dwindling in importance. The small rivers which were easily adapted to porer developrnent were already harnessed. To harness the large rivers and the smaller streams not so well adapted for development entailed enormous initial cost. Individuals, corporations and mnicipalit ies, dealing in electrical power hesitated so Co burden themselves with debt, and. consequently they built steam plants. Coal and oil lighted the homes and factories, while roost of the rivers, like the Loup in Nebraska, oflowed unvexed to the Sean. By fax thelargest percentage of the electricity developed in Nebraska up to 1937 =as generated in steam plants using as fuel bituminous or sub-bituminous coal. The largest of these was that of the Xebraska Power Co~any,rrith headquarters in Omaha. From the Omaha plant, high tension transmission lines carried the current throughout much of the eastern part of the state. Nany towns within the area found it more satisfactory to operate their own municipal steam plants. The city of Columbus is now (April, 1937) and has been for several years supplied with electricity by the Horthwestern Public Service Company, a subsidiary of bfiddlewest Utilities, with general of lices at Huron, South Dakota. In the sunoaer of 1936 this company was aupylying 209 towns in North and South Dakota and Nebraska. The Colucibus plant, valued at $64j,000, is used only lor nstand-inn purposes, as the company finds it more economical to bring in current over the transmission lines from its larger steam plant at Grand Island. Though no definite decision has been made, the contract with the Grand Island plant will probably be severed if and w3en the company begins buying power from the Loup River Public Power ~istrict.l

1. Personal conference with Mr. B. F. Darner, Northwestern Public Service Company, Columbus, Nebraska. CHPSTER 111 HISTORY OF WATER POWER DEVELOPMENT ON THE LOWER LOUP RIVER

If for some reason the water in the Loup River should rise 10 feet above its normal level, it mould transform itself into a veritable Amaion. The tranquil little stream, safely restrained by low sandy banks would take on the appearance of a broad eastward- moving sea several miles in width. VaiZley toms would be flooded, and hi~hmys,railroad tracks, hay stacks, corn fields, and livestock would be swept away. It would be a major disaster. But the Loup probably will not rise 10 feet. Last sumer a young man living in the northern part of Platte County asked the writer, in all seriousness, why the Loup aiver Public Power District went to the expense and trouble of buying so much land and digging such a big canal north of the river. my, he wanted to know, was not a dam built across the Loup river that would hold back the water and raise its level until a fall could be created and electricity generated on the spot. He readily understood when the substance of the preceding paragraph was explained to hiG If a dam built across the river at the present site of the diversion structures, southwest of Denoa, were to be made high enough to create a fall of 145 feet , or an equivalent of that obtained at the Columbus and Monroe povrer houses, it would back the water up the valley for more than 20 miles. The dam would have to be 13 miles long, extending across the flood plain and terraces of both the Loup and the platter1 but even after sub- merging hundreds of square miles of valley land the goal would not be attained. Raising the water level 145 feet would not only cover the terraces but mould push it up to the top of the divide south of the Platte and actually cause an overflow into the basin of the Republican. Such a fantastic project is clearly in the realm of the ridiculous. Hydro-electric power has been develo:,ed at more than 30 points within the Loup River basin but, aside from the large project now nearing completion, only nine of these power plants are existing today. &all plants, many of them crude and inefficient, have been built on the various tributaries of the Loup at or

1. The flood ulains of the Platte and Loup unite near Fullerton. near Boelus, Sargent, Erickson, Cedar Rapids, Fullerton, Arnold, Callaway, Ravenna, Litchf ield, Mason City, Ansley, Loup City, Albion, St. Edward, and Spaulding. Of these, the plants at Arnold, Callaway, Ravenna, Litchf i eld, Mason City, Ansley , and Loup City have been abandoned or destroyed by high water. The existing plants are shown by the I following table:

Location of Capacity of Stream Plant Plant in 101 Middle Loup Boelus 1,000 Niddle Loun Lake Doris, Sargent 200 Cedm River Erickson 350 Cedar River Spaulding 75 Cedar River Cedar Ranids Cedar Yiver Fullerton 2% Beaver Creek Albion 100 Beaxer Creek St. Edward 90

Total energy developed 1 2,515 KW

In cases, the small hydro plants are now owned by private utilities companies which use them to supplement the power from their own inter-urban high lines. These plants, though they have provided valuable light and power for the towns where they are located,

1. Special- Survey Report, op. cit., p. 201. are dwarfed by the huge developments at Nonroe and Columbus. The capacity of the Eonroe plant is to be about 7,$00 KW and that of the Columbus plant about 39,900 KW. Together they will increase the hydro-electric output of the Loup basin by nearly 1,900 per cent. It will probably never he known who was the first person to recognize the industrial value of the Loup River. Certainly as early as 1879 there was considerable discussion of the possibility of water power development , as indicated by the following items from a Columbus newspaper printed in that year: I "A gentleman who has travelled the Missis- sippi river says that a current or undershut wheel would he a success on the Loup for manufacturing purposes. "The services of a civil engineer have been secured to examine water and water courses of the Loup river am!, to state whether it would be a practicable scheme to get water power from the stream. #There aethousands of dollars for the man or company that will control the waters of the Loup river for mill and manufacturing purposes. It wili be done in the near future." The writer was not able to find out whether the survey mentioned above was actually made. At any rate,

1. Quoted in The- Columbus Dail Tele~ram,August 31, 1936, second sdction, pp-i-. no power ?lant was built at the time, and no definite action was taken on river development until fifteen years later. There are still many farmers in eastern Nebraska who recall vividly the summer of 1894. For 40 years they awed their children and grandchildren with stories of "the dry year", telling them how, in the short space of less than a week, a scorching July wind sweeping up from Kansas burned to a crisp the half- grown corn crop. After witnessing the devastating effects of the drought of 1934 and the drought-grass- hopper disaster two years later, we, their posterity, are no longer impressed. It was the year before the drought of 1894 that a coqany was organized to build a five-mile irrigation canal along the valley of the lower Loup River. The canal was to convey water from the river to the flood plain a few feet above the river level farther downstream, where crops were suffering at the time from 8 deficiency of moisture. A small amount of hydro- electric power was to be developed a8 a supplementary feature of the irrigation project. The proposa to vote bonds for the project was dropped, however, and nothing came of the plsns. Interest was renewed in the project the following spring with the organization of the Columbus Power and Irrigation Company, but again no construction was undertaken. Three years later, in 1e96, a new company, the 1Jebraska Central brigat ion Company, was organized to water the bottomlands along the Loup. Only irrigation was contemplated t5is time. Under the active leader- ship of the company president, Mr. H. E. Babcock, a canal and control works were built which served the lands in Platte County below Genoa until 1902. Because of the abundant rainfall of l9OO and 1902, the farmers neglected to pay their water rents. The ditches fell into disrepair and filled with silt. The project was abandoned with the happy conclusion that irrigation along the lower Loup River was unnecessary. 1 In spite of the Eailure of the irrigation project, Mr. Babcock, for whom the present Lake Babcock was named, was convinced that Loup River waters could be devoted to power development. For several yeas follow ing 1902, Mr. Babcock spent much of his time seeking support and financial aid for his idea. He ap?ealed to a number of leaders in the utilities field in this

1. These statements are based on material compiled by A. C. Hasterlo, Loup River Public Power District guide, from newspaper files and other sources, including personal comrmmica.t ion. country, and at one time he even nresented his plan to a group of Swiss capitalists and engineers. In 1912, while representing the Doherty utilities interests, Mr. Babcocic orp.nized the Nebraska Power Company and secured water rights in the Platte valley. The company actually built and operated a 60bhorse- power nlant at Genoa, at a reputed cost of #35,000, and in a report submitted to the state irrigation board, Eovember 25, 1912, it reported having spent more than $64,000 in that locality promoting its plans. The Webraska Power Company also dreamed of water power for Columbus, and contempl~~tedbuilding a huge dam on the Loup with headgates four miles west of that City. The Arnold K. Koenig Company and the Central Power Company claimed to have prior water rights. Construction was delayed for many months by litigation in district court, but after considerable expense, the Nebraska Power Coqany won the suit. #The water power rights of the Nebraska Power Company were sold to H. L. Hollister, of Chicago, in 3.914, Bbr. Hollister visited Columbus and decided to go ahead with the proposed plans. The good citizens of Platte County were startled when Mr. Hollister placed an order for 450,000 feet of lumber and 14,000 barrels of cement to be used in the construction of the dam. The story becomes hazy after tais big order was placed. Hollister left Columbus, the lumber and cement failed to arrive, and to this day, the 'huge da costing $3,000,000~ remains to be built. 3 In the early 1920'8, the late Senator R. B. Howell devised a system of water power plants in eastern Nebraska. His plan, which was never undertaken, included a proposal for power development on the lower Loup River. Several times during the forty years preceding 1972, engineering surveys had been conducted along the Loup River, and it was generally conceded by those in a posit ion to know that hydro-electric development in the vicinity of the present project would be practicable. In each case, however, interest was lacking, or sufficient capital was not available to the promoters. The large privately-owned utilities companies concentrated on increasing the efficiency of their steam plants and on extending their urban markets. Cities and villages were supplied entirely by nhigh lines-ith the exception of a few which had supplementary municipal plants. The cost of building transmission lines through rural areas appeared so

1. Francis Dischner in Hy;vrn, heranciscans -in Nebraska, 1931, p. high that market conditions would not justify it. Unless they were fortunate enough to live near an inter-urban high line, farmers rere usually without electricity. A few had small home lighting plants, either of the storage battery or carbide gas type. The greet majority of the farms ?ere lighted only with lamps and lanterns burhing kerosene or gasoline. While the peasants in France, Sweden, and Switzerland enjoyed the benefits of well-lighted homes, the more prosperous farmers of eastern Nebraska had to be content with coal oil lamps. They lived too far apart. Many of them did not mind, however, as they had shiny automobiles in which they could leave their dusky ho-es and drive to the neighbors or the nearest town. The city of Columbus has been fortunate in having an especially active group of civic boosters.l Within the past few yeas they have been influential in securing funds from the federal government for the construction of 100 miles of paved road east and west of the city, a $100,000 bridge across the Platte, a $200,000 bridge across the Loup, a $j00,000 viaduct over the railroad tracks, a new $75,000 sewer project,

1. Unless otherwise indicated, all of the facts in the following paragraphs have been selected f90m the files of The Columbus Daily Tele~ram. The interpret at ion, however, is strictly my own. R.E.O. and finally the #12,000,000 hydro-electric project. As the editor of a daily newspaper in a neighboring city remarked, ". . . these t9ings didn't just happen for Columbus. ' Columbus men worked to achieye them, not alone by exerting their politicaJ. influence, but also by striving to improve the local conditions so that such expenditures might be justifiable. The Loup Xiver Public Poser District Project was not the outgrowth of crystallized public opinion. It was not the result of a popular demand for cneaper electricity rates. The old plan for developing power on the lower Loup had become practically a dead issue. It was rather the result of the &forts of a few individuals whose spirited enthusiasm and relentless agitation overcame the obstacles which lay betsreen desire and a federal grant. In the suminer of 1932 the "reat Depression" was near its depths. Grain and livestock prices were at almost unheard of lows. Retail trade in the towns was sluggish, and reaJ. estate prices had sagged far below the previous levels. Columbus citizens, motivated by a desire for common and individual prosperity, thought of a way out. They got busy and "old* their idea to the commity, and then -oersisted until they had convinced the United States government. The idea came to light at a noon luncheon held at Hotel Thurston on September 15, 1932. This meeting, attended by about 30 business and professional men of the city, had been called by Phil Hockenberger, a young Columbus realtor and loan agent, prominent in many civic activities. I&. Hockenberger proposed to the group assembled that an attempt be made to revive the old water power development project on the Loup River, pronounced feasible by a number of engineers some 20 yeas earlier. He pointed out that the project would reqzlire the expenditure of about $3,030,000, much of which wmld be for local labor and materials, and suggested the possibility of getting federal aid. To alleviate the serious unemployment situhtion, the Roosevelt administration had embarked on an extensive program of public works, and, through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation it was making loans and grants to publicly-owned "elf-liquidating corporat ionsn throughout the country. Mr. Hockenberfrer pointed out the advantages which would accrue to the commnity in the event that the Loup project were approved-- increased trade and employment, higher retail price8 and property values, electricity for light and power on fasms, and cheaper power for manufacturing. In company with Mr. Harold Kramer, anbther Columbus business man, . Hockenberger had already been to Lincoln and had secured the endorsement of Attorney- General C. A. Sorenson and State Engineer Roy L. Cochran. The proposal of Mr. Hockenberger was received with an energetic approvol by the assembled group, several of whom spoke briefly in favor of it. Action began immediately with the appointment of a committee to study the problem of forming a public power district, and that very afternoon Mr. Kramer mas sent to Lincoln to file with the Department of Public Works a preliminary application for water rights on the Loup River. After brief study the committee of investigation found that it aould be necessary to make a new engineering survey of the region to meet the requirements of the Federal Power Commission and the Recon- struction Finance Corporation. Since the old surveys were made, more than 20 years before, the costs of electricity had been considerably reduced as a result of increased efficiencies of the steam plants and transmission systems. Before the proposed project could qualify for federal aid under the nself-liquidatingn clause of the WC, a mre detailed study of the physical conditions in the Loup valley had to be made to determine the approximate cost of construction. Moreover, the market conditions within the area which could reasonably be served by the project had to be shown to be capable of absorbing the electricity output of the prooosed hydro plant. Senator George W. Norris expressed a warm approval of the project when a Columbus delegation called on him at Ma home in McCook a.nc? presented their ideas. The first pressing problem which had to be met by the promotion committee was that of raising funds for the preliminary engineering survey, which it was estimated yould cost between #5,000 and $10,000. No government funds were available, and the comrt~ittee was faced with the task of raising the money by means of local subscriptions. A suggestion was made that the local Elks lad-e be permitted to decide whether pr not it would undertake to raise all the money, in return for which each member would be given a free summer-home building lot along the edge of the proposed storage reservoir. The idea sounded attractive enough, but the committee did not feel they could make any such promise. A financial sub-committee was appointed, and on December 2 a campaign for raising $10,000 was launched. By that date pledges and tentative pledges of interested citizens already totaled $2,300, including a $500 contribution from the Honorable Edgar Howard, LC., a prominent citizen of Columbus. Volunteer collectors canvessed individual citizens and various clubs in Columbus, Genoa, Humphrey, and Monroe. A m~mber of farmers in the vicinity also made contri- but ions. On January 24, (1933) it was announced that $5,500 had been pledged, and by May 24 the total had been brought to $9,300. atill the drive went on, for additional money was needed to help support the lobbyists at the state legislature in Lincoln and at the capitol in Washington, D. C. Collection of the pledges was facilitated by the promise that the money would be refunded if and when the Reconstruct ion Finance Corporation approved the project . Legal advisers indicated that the RFC would recognize the 1 promotion fund as a legitimate expense item. Enthusiasm for the projeat ran high. Local business men were practically in unanimous support.

1. On May 1, 1937, the promotion contributions had not yet been refunded because no specific approval had been given by the PWA. Pa$y of the contri- butors, however, were still hoping. The president of the Columbus Business and Professional Women' s Club commented on it in these glowing terms: Vle consider this movement the biggest opnortunity that has confronted the citizens of this community for many years, and we wish to be behind it tith our full support . . . Xn addition to providing a large number of jobs the permanent good from the operation of the plant in making cheaper power available for manufacturing plants would be immeasurable. Early in March, the Columbus project began re- c eiving the editorial endorsement of prominent newspaper editors throuzhout the state, in Omaha, Lincoln, and smaller c4ties. The editorial columns of the Omaha World-Herald st ated that n. . . the citizens of Columbus have set an inspiring example for the whole state of Nebraska. It is an example of enterprise and initiative, of hope and courage, of a rational confidence in the fuhre. Ideanvhile, the preliminary survey had been started. For this mrk the cornittee engaged George E. Johnson of Lincoln, former state engineer, and Fred Albert of Columbus. These men agreed to donate their time and do the survey at cost, mith the committee promising to try to secure them engineering work on the project itself providing the latter was apnroved and financed by the WC!. The field work was begun January 23

1. &. Johnson resigned when the preliminary survey was completed. and the report was finished and sent to Washington about June 15. The work of the preliminary survey consisted of several phases, a study of the water supply of the Loup, an investigztion of the land forms and subsurface materials along the proposed route of the canal, detailed cost estimates of the engineering, construction, administrative, and maintenance expenses involved, and a summary of electricity consumption in eastern Nebraska. 1 To determine the rel~tionof the canal and reservoirsZ to seepage loss and to find out what natural foundations were available for the heavy structures, a number of test bores were taken at the headworks site and along the route of the canal. Except at the site of heavy atructures such as the power houses these holes were bored to a depth of only one or two feet below the bottom of the contemplated canal. Including a few drilled later by contractors, at least 131 test bores were mde. Of these, 22 were cased holes in the saturated sands at the headworks site,

1. --Renort of Engineers, Loup River Public Power District, Columbus, Nebraska, June 1, 1933. P. Bdore than one reservoir were planned under the original scheme. 41 were uncased holes between the headworks and the Monroe power house, 44 were uncased holes between the power houses, and 24 were uncased holes dong the tailrace canal.' Later, with the aid of the Conserva- tion and Survey Division of the &ate of Rebraska, 165 test wells were sunk along the eite of the project and on either side to determine the effect of the canal and reservoir on the %round ~aterlevel. A detailed topogra~hicniap was made of the north side of the valley so that the 2o-t desirable route for the canal might be selected. (Fig. 7) Market possibilities were studied on the basis of the consumption of electricity in the cities and towns within a radius of 100 miles from Columbus, except on the west where the eastern side of Hall County formed the boundary between the territory of the Loup River district and that of the Platte Valley

Public Power and Irrigation District. It wc.6 later brought out that the market area was legally confined to Nebreska until the demand in this state was satisfied and that only then electricity could be sent to Sioux City, Council Bluffs, and a number of smaller

1. Personal conference with Mr. A. Bauer, one of the engineers employed in making the preliminary survey. Figure 7. Iowa towns as was contempleted in the preliminary report. 1 As finally sent in to the RFC for approval, the preliminary engineering -vey indicated an estimated total cost for the project of about $5,500,000. This sum was later increased to more than $7,000,000, partly because of changes insisted upon by RFC and Federal Pover Commission officials. It was the conclusion of the engineers making the survey that the project would make possible lower electricity costs in eastern Nebraska. Lboreover, according to their estirnates, the government loan could be entirely repaid within 25 years. c Until the last few years, little organized attention has been given to the development of natural resources in Nebraske. The almost corplete lack of coal and oil and the virtual absence of metallic ores in the

1. Xo legal definition of this provision of Senate File-No. 30 had been made up to May 1, 1937, though it seems unlikely that the District will be required to forego sending power to cities of eastern Iowa in favor of some remote rural district in Nebraska to which transmission would be uneconomical and impractical. Present indica- tions are that there will be amle power available to satisfy any possible demand in both states for many years to come. 2. Report of Engineers, op. cit . 73 geologic strata of t':is state have discouraged great concentrations of industrial ponulation. Soil has rightly been reoognized aa one of the major n~turalresources of Nebraska. Unlike the usu~lresult in the industrial realm, greater use of machinery in agriculture does no: lead to concentra- tion of workers. It tends rather to disperse them over wide area3 in search of cheap land rhere extensive methods of ~roductioncan be eqloyed to advantqe. A film of rural population has spread over Nebraska, distributing it self rottghly pronort ion- a1 to the nroductivity of the land. Cities and towns hzve apneared when needed to serve as depots for the product s shipped in and out by the farmers, and they have groan to fit the size and wealth of the rural areas which they represent. Their economic condition has varied directly with the prosperity of their rura3. peripheries. Town and country have prospered or declined toqether as a result of a comrlon bond%e to the soil which feeds them both. Such matters as price fluctuation of agricultural products, rurel indebted- ness, farm tenancy, and the mre fundamental topics of soil oonservation and soil fertility have rightly been given studious attention by the government in its attempts to solve the much-discussed but poorly defined afarm problemn. Water power is a minor netural resource of Nebraska, and, perhaps because of its lesser significance, it had been given little attention by the state and

federal sovernment up to a~bout1930. , For economic reasons already discussed, private power companies too had not acted on hydro-electric possibilities. The subject of water power development was revived by the federal government when the latter was considering means of combatting the unemployment crisis. Muscle Shoals and Boulder Dan had furnished an impetus. Why not investigate further the problem of hydro-electric resources with a view to adopting a more extensive building proqram in that field? In May, 1933, a Senate Resolution followed by an Executive Order authorized the Federal Power Commission to undertake

B survey and study of the power resources and power requirements of the United States, and of the costs of generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Questionnaires were sent to privately- owned utilities, municipal plants, and federal agencies, and these were supnlemented with data gathered directly by the Commission1 s survey staff. Though the first report of the Commission was not made until March, 1975, the need for additional power sources was recognized earlier1, and public power projects were declared eligible for grants under the government s relief agenc ies. The relief load in Platte County was the heaviest in history during 1932 and 1933. Poor harvests, lorn grain and livestock prices, ruined in- vestment s, exhausted credit, and mortgage foreclosures left hundreds of fanners and citizens of the towns without means of sustenance. In August, 1933, there were about $00 unemployed families in Platte County and a similar number in the adjoining counties of Eance and Golfax. The report of the Platte County relief director for September 1 indicated that there were 196 families receiving government aid. As the result of employment durin~;the cornhusking season, the relief load dropped to 153 families on October 1, but by November 1 it had increased again to 17$ families, or 1015 persons. Somewhat more than half of these were on direct relief, while the remainder had full or part-time employment on public mrks projects. - - 1. Fifteenth Annual Re ort of the Federal Power Commis3, 1935, -Kp. In June, 1933, the section of the EZFC bill concerning loans to "self-liquidating corporations" was supplanted by the passage of the Wagner Bill, or national Industrial Recovery Act. Under the terms of this bill, the Public Works Board was given the right to make an outright grant of 30 per cent of the cost of any self-liquidating project meeting its approval, and the other 70 per cent could be financed by a loan to be repaid from earnings. It was announced that Nebraska's share of the allotment for public works construct ion would approximate $70,000,000. Throughout the sumner and autumn of 1933, the fate of the LOUD project hung in the balance, as the Federal Power Commission and the Public Works Administra- tion investigated critically its engineering and economic aspects. Various Columbus men made trips to Washington to explain its merits and urge its adoption, amonp them, Phil H~ckenberger, Haold Kramer , and Engineer Fred Albert. Senator morris and Congressman Howard used their influence in favor of the proposal, and Arthur Mullen, chairman of the Mebraska Democratic Committee, wided it through its pre-natal legal development. 77 The authorization of a $7,500,000 PWA loan to the Plat t e Valley Public Power and brigation District at North Platte on November 3 was hailed as a good omen by the Columbus group. Their om good news soon arrived. The Columbus Daily Telegram for November 15, 1933, announced in &inch- headlines: QOUP PROJECT APPROVEDn, md in a number of fiub-headings, #PWA Officially Announces $7,300,000 Fundn, *Happy Days are Here; Grant of Canal Does Itn, ,Big Task Ahead for Directors Power DistrictH, Qrym to Rush Water Rights Hearin?", "ckes Okey is Climax of Long Campaign for Columbue-Genoa Plann, and others. Success after 14 months of hopeful suspense put Columbus in the mood for a celebration rivalled only by that following the announcement of the Armistice. Officers of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Julius S. Nichols joined in requesting that business houses be closed. School was dismissed so that students and teachers could participate in the demonstra- tions. In the afternoon a caravan of automobiles drove to Monroe, Genoa, and Platte Center, with horns honking and bands playing. A keg of beer donated by the business men of Genoa added to the gayety of the occasion. In the evening, more than 7,000 people lined up along the streets of Columbus to witness a huge torchlight parade, participated in by the German ban& and 50 residents from Humphrey, a delegation of Polk and Butler county residents, the First and Second Ward Democratic Club, the women's kitchen utensil band of the first and second ward, the Columbus city ban&, the Boy Scout drum and bugle corps, the Kramer High School ban&, the Volunteer Fire Department, the National Guard, the Girl Scouts, the Boyst Choir, the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Platte County Unemployed Council, a number of clowns, and hundreds of unclassified and unaffiliated individuals. Engineer Albert was given a rousing reception at the station when he returned from Piashington, and a few days later Arthur Wlen was guest of honor at a huge victory banquet held at the Evans Hotel. Columbus had definitely routed the depression. Prosperity no longer was just around the cornern, but stood imediately at hand. (Fig. 8) The l~galproblems connected with organizing and directing a public power district project, e specia.lly for pioneers in the field, were numerous and burden- some. To begin with, there was no legal provision

for organizing such districts. This obstacle had to be overcome by a legislative enactment which took form in Senate File No. 30. This bill, introduced in the Nebraska state legislature by Senator Thomas Gass of Kearney, was designed

U. . . to permit the creation of power and irrigation districts by counties, cities, or any other political subdivisions of -the state for the puroose of constructing power and irrigation projects, the cost of which would be defrayed by their earnings and not by any tax levies." Introduced early in February, 1933, the fight over the bill was long and bitter. A sup?orter maintained that Nebraska needed a share of the millions the United States was "spending on harbors in the eastn and said the project would put to work 2,000 men "lad to escape the dole which is practicdly what we have now."

An opponent of the bill contended that fl. . . certain phases of this measure, in the name of Christianity, do nothing more than set up a group of communistic super-states that rival Soviet Russia for nefario~sness,~ Among those speaking in favor of the bill weEe former- governor Keith Neville of North Platte, State Engineer Roy L. Cocbran, Clark Mickey, head of the Civil Engineering nepartment at the University of Nebraska, and G. E. Condra, chief of the Nebraska Conservation and Survey Division. In the face of such weighty authority the opnosition was overwhelmed, and the bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 27 to 3 and later in the House by a somewhat smaller majority.

Since 8. F. 310, commonly called the Enabling kt, required for formation of a public power district a petition containing the signatures of 15 per cent of the voters in the proposed district, the leaders of the movement in Columbus soon abandoned their plans for a large district. Lack of funds for paying the cost of circulating petitions made them discard their original plans for a district of about 20 counties in favor of a power district corresponding with the political boundaries of Platte County. The size of the district had little significance except in the choice of a board of directors, for any profits accruing from the operation of the project had to be distributed evenly over the project's market area in tne form of reduced electricity rates. The constitutionality of the Enabling Act was challenged early in 1434 by a group of landowners whose property would be affected by the Loup project. Joiaed by coal dealers and coal operators in HeSraska and adjoining states, the United Mine Workers of America, the American Federation of Labor, and the National Industrial Board wnich administered the coal code, the group put up a strong fight, but Bhe Nebraska Supreme Court finally ruled thet S.F. No. 310 was constitutional. Hundreds of minor legal problems arose in connect ion with organizing the district, securing the water rights, proving the district's right to retail electricity, acquiring the right-of-way, securing construction contracts, and settling property damages. Since this thesis is not directly concerned with the legal aspects of the Loup River Public Power District Project, hopiever, the various types of nroblems can merely be given this passing notice. August Wagner and C. IT. XcElfresh, Columbus attorneys, were hired by the District to give aid in drawing up contracts and in solving all problems of a legal nature. As might have been expected, the adminisimtive leaders of the project were chosen from among the men who originally sponsored the proposal. Most of the men appointed by Phil Hockenberger to the committee of investigation at the historic Hotel Thurston luncheon still serve on the board of directors. The board of directors, w'nich has general charge of the project including the hiring of engineers and the letting of contracts, consists of a group of eleven Platte County men chosen for six-year terms at the regular county elections. The board hires a full-time Secretary and General-Mensger to act as chief administrator at the District office. Harold Kramer has held this position since the organization of the District. The original board of directors consisted of Charles B. Fricke, August Eaest, Edd Kelly, D. A. Becher, Ed Lusienski, Phil R. Hockenberger, E. E.

Koebbe, A. H. Backus, J. E.Heyer, C. C. Sheldon, and A. R. Miller. Since the creation of the board an 1933, there have been only three chanzes, J. A.Rorg, \V. A. Boettch~r,and E. T. Miessler replacing Becher, Koebbe, and tleyer?. Yir. Fricke, a Columbus pharmacist, is president of the board; Mr. Hockenberger, a local loan and real estate man is vice-president; and Ur. Sheldon, a retired farmer and real estate man, is treasurer. The board holes regular bi-monthly meetings at the District office in Columbus and numerous special meetings. These directors do not receive a definite salary, but are paid only for the amount of tine they zre required to spend on District business2 plus a moder ;lt e expense allowance.

1. Accurate to March, 1937. 2. The Enabling Act (S.F. no. 310) specifies that the directors of public orrer districts shall receive a co~pensationof $2' .OO a day during the time they are actually engaged in district busin? ss. Soon after the organization of the District the board of directors employed the Harza Engineering Coxpany of Chicago to outline the proaect in detail, design the structures, and supervise the construction. Erik Floor, vice-president of the company, was in direct charge of the engineering work at Oolumbus during most of the construction period. The PWA has also maintained a staff of engineers and inspectors with local off ices. Fred Albert, who was in charge of the field parties during the preliminary survey and who was instrumental i? securing the approval of the PVA loan, was hired by the Harza Company as a super- vising engineer. After the project is completed, Albert will remain with the District in the position of Chief Engineer. At the time of this writing (April, 1937)- the work of construction is nearly completed* It was begun in the autumn of 1934. The Monroe power ul& has already been tested, and it is expected that by July 1 the Columbus plant will be ready for op~ration. To insure satisfactory operation of the project a corps of engineers, mechanics, electricians, and ratchnen rill be retained by the District. It will be the task of the Chief Engineer and the board of directors to see that the project is maintained properly and oper: ted efficiently in the interests of the patrons. They will also seek to cultivate the market for electricity within the area served by the transmission lines so that the plant can be operated as nearly at capacity as possible. When the Loup River is in low stages and the canal is not carrying enough water to meet the demands for current, service will probably be maintained by an inter- connection with other nydro-electric plants, stand-by steam plants, or both. As soon as operation is well under way, the District hopes to begin amortization of the federal loans which, including the loan for transmission lines outside the District, no= amount to mare than $7,500,000. Approximately 35 per cent of the government aid received came as a direct grant and so will not have to be repaid.' It is estimated that when the yovernment loan is repaid, some 35 or 40 years hence, electricity rates to the District1s customers may be reduced as much as 50 per cent or more. 2

1. Government funds provided for the Loup River Public Power District up to May 1, 1937, include: $7, 00,000 705 loan, 305 grant 1,~0,000 701 10x1, &; 2,314,000 55$ loan, grant The Loup District has not yet (~ay1 received its allotment from the Rural Electrification Administrztion for the construction of rural transmission lines in the county. It is ea cted that this allotment will amount to approximately $fb0,000. 2. Personal conference with Chief Engineer Albert. Chapter IV hBCHANICAL ASPECTS OF CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

The point onthe Loup Rlver chosen for the location of the diversion structures is approximately six miles southwest of Genoa, In the northeast* of Sec. 6, Town. 16 N., Range 4 W. (Fig. 9 ) ~t this point the river curved northward and be,ck southward in a sharp meander, leaving a large sandbar on the inside of the back curve. The concrete intake structure was built Inside the meander, where it was untouched by the current. It has a firm foundation, 'as the 15 foot steel sheet pilings beneath the concrete reach down to the Nlobrara chalk. The intake excavation, of course, necessitated considerable pumping while the concrete was being poured and hardened. (Fig.. 10) After the structure was completed, a new channel was made slightly deeper than the meander bed, and since it also gave the river a straighter course there was no difficulty in shifting the stream southward to Its new location. To prevent the river from overflowing its new channel back into the meander channel durlng periods of high water, an earth dike Figure 9.

[ Figure 9 was a “folded map” which is missing from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln copy. ] Figure 10. about 1 1/2 miles long was built aoross the old channel and on west and north across the flood plain to the edge of the low terrace, near State Highway No. 22. (Fig. 11) A private road was maints.1ned along the top of this dike by the District during the period of construction. The Inner part of the dike for a distance of about 600 feet was reinforced with rlprsp of willow matting and concrete blocks, suppl'emented by heavy posts a.nd woven wire. A similar dike about 3,000 feet long was built on the south side of the new channel to narrow the river and to keep it within Its proper course. To prevent destructive erbeion, the inner end of the dike is faced with wncsete and 300 feet of riprapping. The crown elevation of the south dike is 1,5$5 feet above sea level, while that of the north dike varies from 1,586 feet at the outer end to 1,586 feet at the end near the intake. This should be sufficient to restrain the water, since the highest recorded elevation of the river here at the headworks site Is 1,577.4 feet, reached in 1904.' A height of 1,576.2 feet was recorded at the same place in 1932.

1. The term %eadworksw Is here used to include the Intake, sluice gates, control weir, dikes, and associated features involved In diverting and desllting the river water. Beyond the point marked X %s the locztion of the earth dike built across the former river channel.. Between the dike protection at X afld the end of the Intake structure at right, the embankment wzs reinforced with willow-concrete riprapping, Between the intake structure and the south dike is a concrete river control wall, called the%ontrol weir.w (Fig. 12) This weir is 1,320 feet long, extending west from the sluice getes of the intake for about 250 feet and thence southward to the dike. The crest of the control weir has a uniform elevation of 1,574 feet so 8.6 to maintain the desired water level at the intake. Water will flow over this weir when the river discharge is greater than the intake and canal capacity, or when for some reason the intake gates must be closed. The intake proper Is a heavy concrete structure 284 feet long trending northwest and southeast at the north side of the new channel. (Fig. 1) Water iS let into the desilting basin through 11 steel gates each 24 feet long. The gates, which open radially, are operated individually by a hand-controlled mechanism just above each gate on the intake deck. (Pig. 14) On the upstream side of the intake there are groovee in the concrete framework into which heavy planks may be dropped. The planks are used to hold beck the water when it is necessary to inspect or repair the steel gates or their foundation. The top of the intake (intake deck) Is wide enough that trucks Figure 12, It is expected that in time much, of the sediment back of the weir will be moved away by high water and carried domatream, either over the 'weir or through the sluice gates. The white line beyond the end of the weir is the south dike. Figure 13. Title on picture should read "Intake Gate Sect ion and Sluice Way Looking to Southeast from Upstream Side, Figure 14,

The freezing open of these gates in January, 1937, added to the seriousness of a canal break one mile above Lake Babcock. may be driven out over it with planks or other repair materials. (Fig. 15) 'Phe surface elevation of the intake weir, over which water flows into the desilting basin, is 1,569.5 feet. To supply the canal with its capacity load, about 3,000 second feet, it will be necessary to have 2 feet of water flowing over the intake weir at each of the 11 gates. By a comparison of the elevation of the water behind the control weir (1,574 feet), the bottom of .the river bed above the intake (1,568 feet), and the top of the inteke weir (1,569.5 feet), it may readily be seen that the water entering the desilting basin will include neither the heavy sediments dragged along the river bed nor the lighter materials floating on the surface. A row of planks fastened end-to-end by a cable stretched across the upper side of the intake prevents brush and other driftwood from getting into the desllting be.sin. This arrangement will also serve in the spring to guide the floating ice southward past the Intake gates to the sluice gates. The three sluice gates extending south from the southeast end of the intake gates are similar to the latter in appearance and construction, except that they are 20 feet long instead of 24, and six feet high

97 instead of five. (Fig. 15) These gates will be opened whenever necessary to permit the excape of exceee water and to clean out the sediment which would otherwise acoumulate In the almost static water behind the intake structure. This sediment is then carried down the regular river channel by flood waters. Downstream from th? left side of the sluice gates an earth dike, reinforced wlth willow matting and riprap, prevents the sluice water from eroding the south bank of the desllting basln. The desllting basin extends northeastward from the intake in a straight line for 1.g miles. Though the river bends to the southward along the middle portion of the basln, it bends northward again to wlthin 200-400 feet of the eastern end of the basin. (Fig. 3 ) In Its broadest aspects, the desilting basin consists of a wide and rather shallow canal in which the velocity of the water Is so reduced that most of the silt carried in through the intake nil1 be deposited on the bottom. The bottom of the basin is 200 feet wide, and the maximum water depth Is 16 feet. The gradient of the basin floor is so gentle that the velocity of the water wlll be only about 0.5 feet per second. (Flg.1b ) [ Figure 16 is mising from the UNL copy. It is described (p. iii) as “Cross Section of the Desilting Basin.” ] Silt is to be pumped from the floor of the basin by a floating dredge which will move baa and forth throughout its length. The ailt will be pumped through a pontoon-supported pipe attached by a double swivel Joint to a traveling discharge car, running over a steel rail track along the inner edge of the south basin embankment. Between the rails on which the discharge car will move is a concrete sludge flume for receiving the mud. (Fig.17 ) Enough water will be pumped out of the basin with the silt to give the mizture sufficient fluidity for moving eastward down the flume. After reaching the eastern end of the desilting basin, the concrete sludge flume curves southward to the river bank. Here the silt will be deposited until some river current comes which is strong enough to carry it away. To keep the channel of the river near its present course a long curving dike has been built along the south bank, and several Jetties will be constructed to shift the current (when there is one) northward against the accumulated silt. For the first few months after the dredge begins operation, the silt may be mmped over the sludge flume to fill Figure 17. in the low and poorly drained area between the basin and the river. North of the desilting basin Is another area of stagnant water and swamp vegetation. (Fig. 9 1 The water in the desilting basin is retarded by a concrete weir 160 feet long across the eastern end. (Fig. This weir is referred to by the engineers 8.6 a skimming weir because It serves to skim off the top surfa.ce water from the basin, lea.ving the more muddy water below the surface undistrubed. Considerable earth fill was needed at the eastern end of the desilting basin to maintain a gradient gentle enough to permit the desired sed1menta.tlon. Since the natural floor of the Loup valley along the desiltlng basin descends in altitude from about 1,575 feet at the west end of the ba.sln to 1,565 feet at the east end, there is a fall of several feet as the water flows over the skimming weir into the canal proper. (Fig. 19) It was not thouga feasible to try to preserve this nheadqy artificially raising the canal above the natural ground line here on the flood plain. A wooden bridge over the skimming weir gives motor vehicles access to the lower end of the sludge flume and the gravel pits nearby. Extensive gravel pumping was carried on between Figure 1g. Top of gravel piles visible at right of canal below the weir. Figure 19, When the canal 1s full the fall below the skimming weir will be only two or three feet. Here it is about ten feet, 104 the canal and the river Just below the skimming weir. (Fig. 5 ) The Loup River Public Power District canal, excluding Lake Babcock, Is approximately 34 miXee long. It extends from the skimming weir about four and one-half miles eouthvest of Genoa to the tailrace weir on the edge of the Platte River three miles southeast of Columbus. Except for distances of a few yards near the siphons and the power houses, where the sides and floor have been faced wlth concrete, the canal is entirely of earth construction. 'Phe removal of nearly ten million cubic yards of earth was required under the canal excavation contracts. Practically all of the work was done with huge draglines, (Fig. 20 ) the size of which astonished many farmers in the vicinity who believed that horse-drawn scrapters would be used In digging the big ditch. No blasting was necessary, as the canal at no point penetrated through the thick cover of unconsolidated mantle rock. The ehape of the canal, designed over most of its length to carry 3,000 eecond feet of water wlth a five-foot nfreeboard,n or clearance and safety margin, was adapted somewhat to suit the various Figure 20.

One of the large draglines used in excavating the canaJ, Progress was halted here until after the harvest of the 2936 wheat crop, Taken on the flood plain above Genoa, (The automobile is directly beneath the a.rm of the machine,) 106 conditions of relief and mantle rock. (Fig. 21) From the skimming weir to about two miles east of Looking Glass Creek, the base width of the canal is normally 73 feet, with 0.1:1.5 sloping sides. In this section of the canal the norm1 depth of the water is designed to be 14.3 feet. Because the coarseness of the alluvial materials Increases with depth for many feet here On the flood plain, a wide, shallow canal was most desirable. For about a mile and a half above the Beaver Creek Crossing, it was found necessary to coat the sides and bottom of the canal with clay to preven&excesslve loss from seepage. (Fig. 22 ) East of the Looking Glaes crossing the canal reaches a low, loess-covered terrace, and to utilize the cut needed to maintain the proper gradient the canal is deepened to a 19.5 foot water Qepth and narrowed to a 39 foot bottom. (Fig. 21 ) The finer textured surface meterlal of the terrace is better suited to supporting the increesed weight of the longer column of water above a unit area on the ca,nal bottom--the.t is, the tendency toward seepage loss is lessened. Ordinarily, a narrow deep canal is the more desirable because the ice cover will form more quickly in winter, permitting free movement of the water beneath It. If the canal is shallow,

Figure 22.

Appearance of canal west of the Beaver Creek siphon, State Highway No. 22 parallels the cmal at this point. scouring on the bottom becomes excessive.l A compacted embankment fill was necessary wherever the water level in the canal was to be more than five feet higher than the natural ground line on either side. Before making the compacted fill the upper 12 inches or more of surface material was nstrippedu off because, on decaying, the organic matter (plant roots, etc. ) In th8.t layer would leave a. porouw zone where seepage might weaken the banks. (Fig. 23) Below Lake Babcock the canal was incres.sed in size so that it will accommodate a flow of 4,800 second feet. This was done to accommodate the varying load demands on the Columbus power house. It is contemplated that the power house will be operated only during th8.t part of the day, probe.bly the late afternoon and evening, when the demand is greatest. and that during that period the greater flow will be required. The canal reaches its greatest size Just above the intake structure at the Columbus power house site. Here the depth is usually about 22.5 feet, but in a number of places it was deepened in order to get more material for the embankments. The width of the canal bottom was increased to more than 100 feet, and due to the gentle inner slopes of the embankment, the width st the water surface is

1. Personal conference with Chief Engineer Albert. Figure 23. The Union Pacific branch line railroad crosses the canal at this point. Note the slight change in the course of the canal to avoid a farm lot, about 225 feet. An enormous back fill was required here above the intake to raise the water level to

the $rep-test height possible. As the canal bottom Is only about 10 feet below the natural ground line, nearly all of the earth for the fill had to be brought from outside the embankments. Several acres outside of the usual right-of-way line (the outer edge of the embankment), in the southwest part of Sec. 4, Town. 17 N., Range 1 E., were purchased, and from a huge nborrow pitn clay was hauled in with dump trucks for the embankment fill. (Fig. 24 ) For a few yards above the Columbus intake building, the sides and bottom of the canal approach are paved with concrete to prevent erosion. The elevation of the base slab is about 1,499 feet and that of the top of the earth and concrete embankment is 1,535 feet. Since the elevation of the water surface Just above the Columbus intake is 1,529 feet and below the skimming weir, somewhat more than 30 miles away, is about 1,568 feet, it is evident that the csnal gradient Is very slight. All but about seven feet of the difference is accounted for by the 32-foot drop at the Monroe power house. When the canal is carrying 3,000 second feet of water the velocity Figure 24.

This is not the borrow pit firnishf ng clay for the embankment fill above the Colunbus intake. It is near Monroe. The same pit is evident on Figure 23. above the Columbus power houae is designed to be 2.25 miles per hour, and with a lesser volume the velocity too will be reauced. To avoid the accumule.tion of water In the tailrace canal Just below the Columbus power house the gradient is raised to increase the velocity to 3.00 miles per hour. In a typical section of the tailrace, the bottom width is 42 feet; the normal water depth is 1g.g feet; the freeboard Is 8 feet; and the side slopes are 1.0:2.25. (Fig. 25) As the canal nears the Platte Rlver it Increases in width to 700 feet at the tailrace weir (surface elevation, 1414.39 feet), over whlch it flows into the river. (Fig. 26) Occasionally, however, as during the spring floods this year (lg37), the Platte River rises a few inches above the normal level of the canal, and water flows over the concrete tailrace weir in the opposite direction. As soon as the tailrace canal was dug, ground weter moved in to fill it to a depth of eight or ten feet. (Fig. 27) The Platte River In the vicinity of the tailrace weir is a bread, ahallow stream With numerous small sandbars and occasional lerger ones, the le.tter held in place temporarily by a thick growth of sedges and

Figure 26. The purpose of the tailrace weir, of which only the eastern end is shown here, is to hold the canal nzter at an elevation that tvill maintain the water tight seal on the draft tubes at the Columbus pomer house, The reason for the le~thof the weir is to lessen the tendency of the canal. water to erode the river channel in front of it. Figure 27, Ground water in the tailrace canal, Union Pacific bridge in dfstance, 117 shrubby willows. (Fig. .2$) Two short willow-rlprap Jetties Just west of the welr serve to divert the channel away from the end of the welr so as to prevent erosion of the weir embankment contact. When the writer first visited the tailrace site in connection with this study (July 23, 1936), the actual river channel was found to be only about $0 rods wide, practically all of the water being furnished by the Loup. To forget the scorching summer heat and sooth the pains of a ha-lf-hatched thesig, he waded across the entire channel in search of a place to swim. Nowhere was the water waist deep, and most of the way across persistent flies parked safely but itchingly on a pair of dry sunburned knees. The two power houses, on which economic if not geographic interest centers in studying the Loup project, are located near the towns of Monroe and Golumbue. The smaller of the two is about one mile northwest of Monroe. Situa.ted on the south front of a terrace, Its gray walls and red tile roof are a prominent feature of the landscape, plainly visible from State Highway No. 22. The Monroe power house (Figs. 29 and 30), utilizing a head of 32 feet, ha@ three 3,200 horsepower Frsncia vertical-shaft Figure 2G. The Platte Ziver, looking southeast from the right end of the tailrace weir, Above the confluence with the Loup, the bed of the Platte was practically dry, hen this picture was taken (.July 23, 1936). Notice the cottonwoods and millows along the bank. Figure 29. The Monroe power house in process of construction. Town of 1Ionroe in background at right, hydraulic turbines, es.ch directly connected to a 2,750 KVA' generator. A spillway north of the turbine intakes provides for disposing of the water wher the turbines are stopped for repalrs. The substation Is located north of the left spoil! bank? A 33 KV3 line 15 miles long will csrry the current to the Columbus power house, from where it will be distributed for consumption. Nof provision w8.s made for storage above the Monroe power house as the District plans to operate this plant continuously. The larger of the power houses Is situated on the abrupt front of the high Shell Creek Terrace, about two miles northea.st of Columbus. (Figs. 31, 32 and 33) Though It is quite similar to the Monroe plant, it is considerably larger and is designed to operate intermittently. During the hours of the day when the demand load is light, the heavy steel gates in the Columbus intake structure will be lowered, permitting the water to accumulate in the reservoir and the wide forebay canal. It is estimated tha.t at full capacity the Columbus plant could empty Lake Babcock in 8 hours.

- - 1. Kilovolt amperes. 2. The term napoil bank" refers to the excavated material above and outside of the specified canal embankment. 3. Kilovolt. Figure 31. The terrace on which the intake canal is about 100 feet above the flood plain below the power house. Notice the borrow put along the east side of the intake canal, Figure 32, A power house takes form, Figure 33. The completed power house. Compare with Fivre 30 (the IiIonme power house) to see the difference made by some white paint. 125

When the Intake ga,tes are hoisted, the water enters three steel penstocks, ee,ch 20 feet In diameter, which deliver the wa.ter to the power house. (Fig. 34) Trash racks on the upstream side of the intake building exclude floating wood, Ice, a,nd other solid materials from the penstocks. The penstocks, resting on an artificial gravel foundation, testify to the steepness of the terrace front, for with a length of only 300 feet they carry the water in a 112-foot vertical descent to the power house. This power house containe three 18,000 horsepower Francis vertical-shaft hydraulic turbines, each directly connected to a 14,000 KVA generator. (Flge. 35 and 36) The building proper Is approximately 160 feet long and about 100 feet high above the bottom of the tailrace canal. From the substatlon along the east edge of the tallraoe canal Just below the power houae, electricity will be sent out on high-voltage transmission lines to the various market centers. The regulating reservoir in which water Is stored during the time the Columbus power house Is not In operation has its outlet about a mile and a half above the power house. Named Lake Babcock In honor of the early pioneer (p. 59 ) in Loup water Power development, It occuplea an area of approximately Figure 34. The gravel base, put in after this picture mas taken, covers the penstocks to about half their depth. Figure 35.

129 1,000 acres, in part of four sections. (Fig. 1 ) The only natural protection for the reservolr is along the west half of the north side, in Sec. 36, Town. 18 M., &,nge 1 W. The earth dike which limits the reservoir in all other places is reinforced most of the way on the north and east with a concrete slab on the inner face, surmounted by a two-foot breaker wall. (Fig. 37) The west and south walls are of earth construction, excepting a few hunared feet juet west of the reservolr outlet. Earti? for the embankments was secured from shallow ttborrow pits" at va.rlous places within the reservoir. Nowhere is the embankment more than 20-25 feet high, so except over the borrow pits this will be the maximum depth of the water. Computations from the topographic survey of the reservoir site show the ce,pacity of Lake Babcock as follows: Below Elevation Capacity Acre Feet

Usable Ca acit 1,5SF- . to 1,529 4,167 Possible Additional Capacltr Figure 37. Ooncrete work on the inner face of the east embankment, 131 The highest elevation shown by the contour map (5foot interval) within the reservoir is a closed contour of 1,530 feet near the western end. This area will probably form a small island in thelake most of the time. Water enters the reservoir by flowing over a concrete weir 280 feet long. (Figs. 9 and 39) The sawtooth design of the weir adds to the effective crest length, thereby faeklitatlnR more effective discharge into the reservoir. The canal water first flowed over the reservoir weir early In January, 1937, but a subsequent canal break (discussed later) caused a delay of several weeks. In its 35-mile course the Loup River Public Power District canal intersects four drainage creeks, Beaver Creek, Looking Glass Creek, Cherry Creek, and Lost Creek, the latter in two places. Under the prdiminary report it was contemplated that the water from these tributary streams would be retained In storage reservoirs and used to supplement the water from the Loup in the canal. The Irregularity of the flow of these tributaries and the great volume of silt carried by them, however, led to a revision of the preliminary plans, and It was decided to exclude such waters from the canal. To do this Figure 38. Anoearance of the r-eservoir weir when the canal is empty. Figure 39, View from the south end of the weir, 1.% required either that the creek water be passed under the canal in culverts or that the canal water pe passed under the creeks in siphons. Ordinarily, small culverts at the Looking Glass Creek (Fig. 40) and lower Lost Creek crossings and a somewhat larger one at the Beaver Creek crossing (Fig. 41) would suffice to dispose of the discharge of those streams, while Cherry Creek and Lost Creek at the first crossing are normally dry gullies. Occasi~nally,bwever, when heavy rains occur in the headwater areas of these streams they overflow their banks and become rushing torrents many rods wide. At such times the culverts could not handle the surface run-off, and water would accumulate north of the cane.1, flooding the adjacent farm land. The problem of disposing of the stream drainage was met in three cases by cmstructing inverted concrete siphons to carry the canal water under the stream bed, thus leaving these normal drainage lines little disturbed. mile the concrete siphons were being constructed, the drainage streams were diverted around the siphon sites in ternporsry channels. The longest of the siphons is the one near Genoa carrying the canal water beneath Beaver Creek and State Highway Figure 40. Looking z lass Creek near the Loup District canal.

Figure 41, Beaver Creek near the Loup District canal, B~idgeon State Highway No, 39. No. 39. (Fig.42) It is about 200 yards from end to end. Shorter siphons of a similar type were built beneath Looking Glass Creek (Fig. 43 ) and Cherry Creek, and beneath two branch lines of the Union Pacific Railroad, at Genoa and between Oconee and Platte Center. (Fig.44 ) As the drainage basin of Lost Creek above the canal Is smaller, it did not seem necessary to build a canal siphon beneath this stream. Instead, concrete culverts were built at the Lost Creek crossings for carrying the creek watrr under the canal. Since Lost Creek loses much of its water by seepage into the va-lley sands and gravels after reaching the flood plain, the second of the two culverts was made less than half 8.6 large as the first. Over both Lost Creek culverts there are waste gates on the bottom of the ce.nal which can be opened to let out excess water from the canal and to flush away any sediment which might accumulate in the culverts. The interruption of surface drainage by the canal was not remedied merely by installing siphons at the larger stream crossings. Between the named drainages Beaver Creek, Looking Glass Breek, Cherry Creek, end Lost Creek) a number of smaller gullies carried water southward from the uplands toward the Loup. Sheetwash, Figure 42. Beaver Creek siphon, looking west, . Back side of s~jhon-i:~tn;?=e and sectiori of canal visible in , . background, . . .-. 1

Figure 43. Looking Glass siphon, looking west. Light from opposite end can be seen in middle section, Fig, 42 and 43 were taken before Loup water was let into canal. Water in foreground of Fig, 43 is from ground water seepage. ron.,'*- ho- *.

Figure 44, Railroad stphon, looking north. Rolling upland visible in background. too, played a part in disposing of surface water, mostly by spreading It over the level ground for later absorption by the soil. The canal, as might be expected, hinders both the run-off and the upper subsurface movement, cutting off natural springs (especially between Genoa and M-nroe) and dadng surface waters in pockets on the up-hill side. To dispose of this water a drainage ditch was dug just outside of the spoil bank on the up-hill slde of the canal wherever it could be of use. For a distance of several miles on the Shell Creek Terrace the natural drainage Is northward toward Shell Creek, so the drainage ditches and inlets are on the south side of the canal. (Fig. 1 ) Wherever possible, these drainage ditches were made to lead the water to a siphon-crossing, but where the necessary cut would have been too great other methods of disposition were used. Either the water was carried under the 'anal In a drainage culvert to a deepened ditch on the lower slde, or it was taken Into the cans1 by means of inlets. (Fig.45 ) To avoid erosion of the surface of the canal banks, eapecially the inner surface, the Inlets were made to carry the water through the embankment In a concrete pipe opening just Figure 45. Drainage inlet on north bmk of tailrace canal, below Coluxlbus power house, Looking north, Farm place in background is on the Shell Creek Terrace. 141 below the water surface'. A concrete slab below the opening of the pipe, with a wooden splash box below it on the canal bottom, reduces erosion to a minimum. Some silt is carried into the canal through these inlets, but there seemed to be no way in which it could be avoided. Besides the siphons, drainage culverts, and inlets Just discussed, dozens of small culverts were needed to provide adequate drainage at road crossings and around the reservoir, the power house, and other structures. No small part of the engineering work required to complete the power project crtlsisted of re-establishing the previous transportation lines in the area affected by the canal. The District was required to build 29 public bridges allowing federal, state, and county roads to cross the canal. Of these, 27 are of concrete and steel (Fig. 46), and two are of approved timber design. The longest of the bridges is the one across the forebay canal Just above the Columbus intake, with a deck length of 248 feet. Most of them are only about half this long. The most expensive highway bridge is that on U. 5. Highway No. 30, 8.cross the tailrace canal east of Columbus, costing nearly $40,000. (Fig. 47) There are two Figure 46. County steel bridge across cand, Right-of-way fence erected by District. Figure 47. U. S, Highway No. 30 bridge across tailrace canal, railroad bridges across the canal, both over the tailrace section, a steel bridge for the Union Pacific ma.in line and a wooden bridge for the Burlington branch line. Also crossing the tailrace canal is a bridge for the $-inch pipe line of the Northern

Natural Gas Co. (Fig. kt3 ) The construction of the highway and ratlroad brldges caused little inconvenience because they were built before the completion of the canw.1. In each case, a temporary road was made alongside of the construction site, over an unexcavated section of the ditch. (Fig. 49 ) These road llplugsn (Fig. 50) were generally removed by the bridge contractors when construction was completed. In several places where the canal crosses i?i road obliquely, especially nesr section corners, the road was permanently relocated. Of course all roads within the reservoir had to be abandoned. Besides the public bridges, the District built 14 private farm bridges across the canal. These bridges, all of creosoted timber, were placed in various positions depending upon the type of inconvenience caused by the canal. The most common situations met by the farm brldges were the severance of private inroads and the div5slon of farms (and Figure &, Pipe line bridge across tailrace canal.

Figure 49. Termorary road across canal south of new U, S. Highway No, 3O bridge, Figure 50. Unexcavated section of canal used for road crossing ml~ilenew bridge was being built. fields) by the canal excavation. (~ig.51) Usually the landowner needing a bridge mas given his choice of a bridge or a monetary compensation for the damages approximately equal to the cost of its construction. Several of the landowners, especially of those not living bn their land, choee the cash payment in preference to a bridge. Along with many of the public and private bridges, a shorter bridge had to be built across the drainage ditch outside the spoil bank on the up-hill side of the canal. (Fig. 52 ) Sofne of these drainage bridges are associated with caal inlets. To delimit the right-of-way and to keep livestock away from the spoil banks, the District built a wire fence on both sides of the District property. Woven fence was required along fields where hogs were to be yarded or pastured; at other places kstrand barbed wire sufficed. Except at corners, braces, and gates, where creostoed wooden posts mere specified, steel posts were commonly used. Wire gates were provided for on either side of the canal at each road crossing to permit entrance into the District right-of-way. (Fig. 46) Nost of the fencing material was new, Farm bridge built across canal for convenience in reaching fields on other side, Bridge across drainage ditch on nort3 side of c?.nal, about rods west of Looking Glass siphon, Looking east, although some which came into the District's hands through purchase of the canal and reservoir right-of- way was used again. Several old motor roads were improved by the District for use in hauling materials and moving heavy machinery, and a number of new roads were made. Besides the motor roads, standard-gauge railroad sidings were laid to the power house sites from the Union Pacific main line near Columbus (Fig. 53 ) and the Union Pacific branch line near Monroe. The siding at Columbus is about 2 miles long, and that at Monroe about 1 mile. These lines extended in each case into the power house beneath the power house crane, thus making possible the installation of heavy machinery without expensive re-loading. Several acres of land near the sites of the neadworks and the power houses were used during the period of construction for storage of materials and for temporary camp houses. (~i~.54) Trailer carny, wagons and tar-paper covered camp houses were still mch in evidence at the Columbus power house site d-urinq the summer of 1936, two of them being occupied by the construction supervisor of the con- tracting company and the PWA inspector respectively.

152 Nine 10' x 12' collapsible wooden houses have been ordered by the District for distribution along the route of the canal. These will be used mainly for storing tools and as shelter stations for the canal natchmen. Each house will be connected by telephone to the District office for making emergency calls-- as, for instance, in reporting possible canal breaks. At the time of this writing (Llay, 1937) the District has not yet begun the construction of transmission lines for distributins the electrical power. The tentative plan of rural lines for Platte County, now under co~siderationby the Rural Electri- f ication Administration, outlines the construction of 269.5 miles of high line. The first of the outside- the-District transmission lines will be a 115 KV line to Fremont and Valley. At the latter town, the Loup District line will probably be connected with a high line of the Nebraska Power Company out of Omaha. Although drafting and coqutations for the preliminary engineering survey were done in office space donated by various Colu~nbusbusiness men, more adequate offices were provided for the District after the government loan was granted and construction got under way. Since the autumn of 1934, the general administrative and engineering off ices have been located in the west half of the Wurdeman building

2305 13th Street, Columbus. The directors have under considerat ion the construction of a permanent headquarters for the Loup River Public Power District. OHAPTER V SOME GEOGRAPHIC PROBL3NS PRESENTED BY THE PROJECT

The task of selecting the most favorable site for a water power project is one that requires both a careful study of the physical background and a thorough understanding of economic conditions in the area. Before the preliminary engineering survey mas made for the present Loup project it was generally conceded that water power development on the Platte adLoup rivers in central and eastern Nebraska was possible from the physical standpoint. The economic possibilities of poaer development were not so well understood, for market conditions have no such stability as the physical conditions of land forms and stream discharge. Since no project comparable in size to the present Loup development had ever been actually begun prior to 1933, a detailed survey of both physical and economic potentialities had to be undertaken. It is the purpose of the first pert of this chapter to discuss the major factors nhich dictated the outlines of the Loup project, considering the various aspects of it as adjustments to a rather d.efinite and constant nztural lnndscape and to a somelrhat more flexible, but equally influential human panorama. Six major factors were involved in locating the Loup River Public Power District project in its present position: 1. Stream gradient and discharge. Within the Loup River basin the grdient cna.nges from 14 feet per mile along the Dismal River, a tributary of the Middle Loup, to about 6 feet per mile along the lower Loup River be- 1 tween St. Paul and Columbus. From these figures it is evident that a silorter canal would suffice to create the same flheadtlfarther up the Loup valley. Tliis advantage would be more than offset by the decreased volume of stream discharge. The contributions of a number of feeder streams as well as of springs along the river bank give the Loup River its greatest volume of water near its mouth, that is, near Columbus. . It would be possible to extend the Loun Canal eastward from the Columbus power house along the north side of the Platte valley, and indeed it may be so extended if or when economic conditions permit. To creizte a nheadn equal

1. Special Survey Report, op. clt., pp. lgO-lg2. 156 to that utilized by the present canal at Monroe and Columbus, however, would require a canal nearly 50 miles long, reaching apwroximately to the city of Bremont. 2. Land form and mantle rock. ds has already been explained, the Loup River project is directly dependent upon the land forms of the north side of the valley. Eowhere farther upstrem along the Loup or its tributaries is there a terrace at all comparable with the Shell Creek Terrace in elevation or continuity. The reason for this is more easily understood when it is recalled that the Shell Creek Terrace was not formed by the Loup River, but by the Platte River when the latter was flowing at a higher elevation. Only below Fullerton, where the flood plains of the Platte and Loup unite, is it reasonably possible to divert the reliable waters of the Sand Bill-fed Loup onto the rzore lighly developed terracds of the inconstant Platte. East of Oolumbus, though the Loup water would be available, the Platte terraces are not so high above the river and are more dissected by streams. The Shell Creek valley cutting southwaxd to the Platte just east of Schuyler forms the eastern limit of the high Shell Creek Terrace, and from there 157 on eastward the terraces of the Platte Plain in Colfax County are all from jO to 60 feet lower.' East of Colfax County, in Dodge County, the highest of the Platte terraces is about 60 feet above the river,2 while the height of the Shell Creek Terrace in eastern Platte County is 70 to 100 feet.' From the standpoint of mantle rock, the location of the Loup Project is perhaps the best available along the valley, for the depth of the loess cover--so important in relation to seepage from t he canal--is generally less to the eastward. In the Sand Hill region, where the Loup system acquires most of its water, the surface material is so porous as to make an unlined canal entirely worthless. 3. Cost of the land occupied. Aside from the irrigated land along the Platte valley in western Nebraska, it is generally true that land values in the state increase from west to east. It would have been

1. Soil Survey of Colfax County, Nebraska, Bureau 2f Chemistry and Soils, Series 1930, No. 11, p. 2. 2. Soil Surve of Dod e County, Nebraska, Bureau of soils~,p.+ 3. Soil Surve of Platte County, Nebraska, op. cit;, P-6 more expensive to buy the necessary right-of-way farther east along the Platte valley, where the ponulation is somewhat more dense, the farms average smaller in size, and crops are somewhat more certain. Since the cost of buying the right-of-way amounted to aporoximately seven ner cent of the total cost of the project, this factor is of considerable importance. 4. Distance from other sources of power. Water power developnent in Nebraska is favored by the absence of coal or oil in comgercial quantities, within the boundaries of the state. Though Columbus is supplied with natural gas by pipe line, both oil and coal have to be shipped in by rail, with the attendant 'nigh freight costs, from the places of production. Gasoline fuel oil, lubricants, and other petroleum prociucts are 9rought in mostly from Kansas by tank cars and large motor trucks. Coal is shipped into the area by rail from Kansas, Wyoming, Iowa, Illinois, and states farther east. Nost of the coal used for the production of electricity by the steam plant at Columbus is brought in froq the bituminous fields of southeast ern Kansas. A glance at a map of the coal regions of the United States shows that east central Nebraska is almost as far from producing coal mines as any place in the Unit ed States. It was for this reason that the whole- sale coal dealers of the middle west chose the Loup project for a test case in their fight to make publicly- financed hydro-electric projects declared unconstitu- tional. If a public water power district near Columbus, Nebraska, could have been shown to be illegal, the case would probably have covered all such districts in the cpuntry. The fight failed, however, when Senate File 310 was declared constitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court. (1934) 5. Distance to markets for electricity. The problem of finding adequate markets for the electrical energy produced, as the project nears completion, looms as the mst serious task facing the Loup District.

Since '1108t of the lar~ercities of Nebraska are located in the eastern part of the state, it follows that there is wherd markets can most easily be developed. About two-thirds of the population of the state live within a radius of 100 miles of Columbus. Omaha, the metropolis, is about $5 miles to the east, and Lincoln, the capital, about $0 miles to the southeast. Norfolk, Fremont, Hastings, and Beatrice are withln a similar radius. The District is hoping to make connections with most of the important cities and towns of eastern Nebraska, and if these (and the adjacent rural districts) can not dispose of all the available energy, to send sdme across the Missouri River to Sioux City and Council Bluffs. To the westward, the market available to the Loup District is definitely limited by the presence of the Platte Valley Public Power and Irriga- tion District Project near North Platte. From the viewpoints of economy and efficiency in operation, an inter-connection between these two plants would be desirable. Though a line h~sbeen built for this purpose from Grand Island to Columbus, such a union has not yet been given government approval. 6. The desire for a water power project. In suggesting reasons why the Genoa-Columbus locat ion was chosen for a qovernment-financed water power project it must be mentioned again that the human factor was vitally important. Without the enthusiasm and spirit of local citizens, who worked incessantly for its approval and are still wrklng for its success, the project might have been abandoned at the outset. Projects seeking government aid are often dropl3ed because of a lack of sustained local interest. The completion of the Loup project at Columbus is eagerly awaited by the city, which has already felt a surge of prosperity during the period of construction. The project has been regarded as a civic achievement of first rank.

In order to find the best possible sites for a storage reservoir end a power house near Columbus, the engineers engaged for the preliminary survey made a detailed topographic map of the Shell Creek Terrace and adjacent lowlands. The usual contour interval of five feet was reduced to two feet in places where more accurate knowledge was needed. The highest point on the divide between Shell Creek and the Loup River naturally offered the greatest possible "headH for the power house. From this place, roughly the site chosen for Lake Babcock and the Columbus forebay canal, the upstream route for the canal was surveyed. At a descending gradient of three inches per mile, the canal survey line reached the Loup Rivers a short distance west of Eonroe. If the natural conditions here had been favorable, this would probably have been the site of the diversion dam. But the natural conditions were not favorable at this place for building the diversion structures. The sand of the valley floor was coarse and porous, the flood plain north of the river channel was low and swampy, and the river bed itself included large areas of quicksand where construction would have been both difficult and hazardous. To avoid these handicaps, it was decided to route the canal along the outer mrqin of the flood plain north of Ebonroe, and to extend the cznzl several miles up the valley by utilizing another power house which could be built here at the base of the low terrace. From the top of the low terrace north of Monroe it was possible to extend the canal, at the same low gradient, to a point on the river about three and one-half miles southwest of Genoa. There the natural conditions were more suitable, and there it was that the diversion dam was planned under the preliminary report. A full study of the silt problem, previously men- t ioned on page 24 in connect ion with proposed reservoirs in the drainage basins of Beaver Creek, Looking Glass Creek, Cherry Creek, and Lost Creek, led to a further up-strean extension of the can&. Instead of attempting to dredge silt from the canal throughout its entire length, it was decided to catch as much of the silt as possible in a wide settling basin at the upper end of the canal. This basin and its operation have already been described. (Page 97 ) The up-stream extension of the canal to provide for a desilting basin brought the upper end of the canal to its present locat ion. Some interesting factors were also lnvolved in the location of the tailrace canal below the Columbus power house. Obviously, the tailrace canal has no other important function than to conduct the water from the outlet of the draft tubes at the power house back to the river. It would seem at first thought, on considering the situation, that it would have been most reasonable to dig the canal due south from the power house to the Loup River just above its junction with the Platte. Bcavation, especially for the wide, deep tailrace canal, was expensive, and economy of distance was an iwortant item. The cost of buying right-of-way land so near the city limits of Columbus, however, would have more than exceeded the cost of extending the canal southeastward around the zone of valuable truck and dairy farms. As can be observed from the general map, the tailrace canal is crossed by the Burlington railroad only a few rods north of the Platte River and about a mile vest of the bridge over which the railroad crosses to the south side of the river. The District hoped to obviate building this railroad bridge over the tailrace by extending the canal eastward to a point on the river below the Burlington river bridge. The refusal of a sand company along the proposed right- of-aay to sell its property for what the District considered a reasonable price led to the abandonment of this idea. To avoid the delay and litigation expense involved in carrying through legal condemnation proceedings, the District decided on the present route for the canal, due south from the U.8. Highway No. 30 crossing. The disposal of the silt pumped from the desilting basin creates a real engineering problem which as yet has not been satisfactorily solved. The present plan is to carry the mud eastward from the end of the concrete sludge flume (see map of Headworks Arrange- ment, Fig. g ) in a metal flume for a distance of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. This metal flume, paralleling the north bank of the river channel, will have rnany outlets, perhaps one each 100 feet, so that the mud will be distributed fairly evenly over a considerable linear distance. Jetties will be built below the end of the concrete flume, on the south side of the river channel, as indicated on the map, opposite the metal flume. These jetties mill tend to deepen the channel and turn the current toward the silt accumulated on the north side. The exact number and location of these jetties have not as yet been determined, as the need for them can be determined only after experimentation. It may be necessary to narrow the channel for several miles, or possibly even all the way to the lower end of the diversion canal below Columbus. Even so, the quest ion remains--will the silt be carried away? Will the unused water of the Loup be sufficient'to flush the old channel? Before the construction of the diversion canal, the Loup River had reached a fairly stable balance between erosion and deposition. After the power project begins operation, the amount of sediment to be carried down the river channel will remain approximately the same as before, while the volume d water available for carrying the sediment will be greatly reduced. For several months of the year, the only water which will go down the river channel will be that which ie pumped out of the settling basin with the silt and that which is let through the sluice gates to flush the channel above the canal intake. For several weeks in the spring and for a shorter period in the fall, there vill usually be enough water to permit a considerable flow over the control weir, but these flood waters will already be burdened with a volume of silt ap~roximatelyequal to their carrying capacity. While undou5tedly they will remove so2e of the pumped silt from the channel, they will also deposit some of their own. To the writer, it seems unlikely that the spring and fall floods, even with tile aid of jetties, will be able to carry both their own silt and the silt from the canal water down the old river channel. It is possible that silt may accurrmlate in the river bed above Genoa to a sufficient depth to reduce the river gradient above the points where silt is being dumped. In this case, since the present bed of the river is usually only five to ten feet below the valley laad on either side, a serious flood problem may result for the peo,>le living on the flood plain in the vicinity. In order to observe the effects on the old Loup channel of the diversion of most of the wa.ter into the power canal, the Loup River Public Power District has had an aerial survey made of the Loup channel between the diversion structures and the tailrace weir. This aerial map, made in December, 1936, on a scale of 403 feet to one inch, shons in detail the river channel and banks, the sand bars, and various associated natural and cultural features along the valley. Sinilar surveys will probably be mzde later, after the project has been in operation for a time, to show the effects of silt accumulation and wind erosion on the old channel. 0lhe 2 pictures will be useful for the engineering record and may come in handy in helping to settle legal disputes over damage claims. Less serious than the silt problem is the question of how ice will be handled when the spring thaws break it loose from the canal banks. After the skating season is over, engineers expect that the slow-moving water will permit the ice to melt in place or else pile up and melt in the reservoir. An interesting geographic stud7 could be made of the effects of the power project on the ground water level along the canal and the river valley between the project headworks and the tailrace weir. An entire Mastercs thesis could well be devoted to this subject alone, of which only the 'masder implications can be mentioned here. The Loup District engineers are carefully watching the changes in ground water level as indicated in the test wells (page 70) to see what the effects will be when the project begins operation. Since no considerable percentage of the Loup discharge has as yet been diverted away from the regular channel, no marked change in the water level has been observed along the inner flood plain. Farther out, along the canal route, more definite results have been noticed. The extensive pump excavation at the Columbus power house site in 1935 (~ig.55) preparqtory to building the foundation structures brought about a substantial lowering of the water table in the vicinity. Though this greatly facilitated the engineering work of the District, it had undesirable results in making necessary the deepening of several wells on farns in the neighborhood. The water pumped from the construction site was permitted to drain southward toward Lost Creek, but because of the inadequate size of the creek many acres of Something doing in the valley! City of Columbus in background, right of picture, private property were flooded. (Fig. 56) The District, of course, compensated the farmers financially for such damages, though the inconvenience caused was often quite great. In order to make more satisfactory use of large machinery for excavation and to facilitate the construction of bridges along the route, it was found desirable to loner the water table on the Platte flood plain along the tailrace canal. This was done by deepening the channel of Lost Creek east of the tailrace three to four feet, and draining the seepage water from t'ne canal into it. (Fig. 57 ) The result was the flooding of several farms east of the canal alonq the creek and the cessation of the flow of the creek west of the canal. Betmeen Monroe and Genoa several farmers reported that springs stopped flowing after the construction of the canal. A representative case is that on the Lightner farm three miles west of Genoa, in the NW 1/4 Sec. 3, Tom. 17 N., Range 3 W. In July, 1936, Kc. Lightner complained to the bmrd of directors of the District that a spring had been cut off which formerly vat ered a hay meadow on the south side of the canal. As a result, the hay crop for the year was almost a Figure 56, Figure 57. total failure. After an investigation by the committee on claims, the board raid Ulr. Lightner $1,000 in damages. Two miles farther west, on the Welch farm (SW 1/4 Sec, 5, Town. 17 N, Range 3 W) the canal lowered the water table enough to affect the sub-irrigation of corn. The field in the southeast corner of the farm just below the canal lies so near the natural water table that tile drai~shad been found helpful to crop growth. Throughout the dry summer of 1934 the drains continued to flow, and the field produced a crop of corn averaging 30 bushels per acre. In the summer of 1935, after the excavation of the canal, the tile drains ceased flowing. Though 1935 was, in generalpa better crop year in the Platte County than 193, the 19-55 corn crop on the same field amounted to only 18 bushels per acre. 1 It is quite probable that the springs and the drains will begin to flow again after the canal has been filed with water for a time. Indeed, it is likely that for a year or two after the project begins operation the seepage from the canal will be so great as to saturate certain fields on the lower side, hindering crop growth because of excessive waiter. 1. Personal conference with Kr. Walter Groteluschen, tenant on the Yelch farm. The effect of seepage on the canal itself is also important. Aside from the direct loss of water, which has occasiontLLly threatened to become serious, the action of seepage in weakening the canal embankments is a situation which requires constant vigilance by the District engineers and canal watchmen. Seepage has been esgecially excessive in places where the canal water is more than 10 feet above the level of adjacent land. Seepage northward from the canal toward Shell Creek along the west side of Sec. 28, Town 18 N., Range 1 W. , increased to a trickle during the spring of 1937, and if sand bag reinforcement had not been provided immediately after the discovery of the leak a complete break might have resulted. It is thought by some that muskrats might be partly responsible for such leaks, as they are knom to burro rather deeply into the embarkments, and oWwatchmen have orders to shoot them on sight. The most serious canal break which has occurred thus far was that of January, 1937, when the right embankment washed out about a mile west of the reservoir weir,near the northeast corner of Sec. 9, .Town. 18 N., Range 1 W., flooding several hundred acres including one farmyard. The exact cause of the break is unknown, but it was probably due to seepage, frost-cracking, or both. At this point the <?er end of the canal where the open intake gates were frozen fast. (See Fig. 14 ) An attempt was made to thaw loose the gates by heating them with electricity, but the current spread into the steel reinforcenents of the concrete and had no noticeable effect. After a delay of about 24 hours, the gates were freed from ice by a huge acetylene torch, brought especially for the purpose from Omzha. Zrosion of the canal embankments both the inside (Fig. 59 ) ad the outside (Fig. 60 ) by hezvy rains resulted in much inconvenience ad expense during the period of construction. If heavy rains continue to have a similar effect after the canal is full of water, and it must be remembered that the rainfall since 1334 has been below normal, the consequences may be serious for adj acent farm land. Already many farmers have received adjustments for flooded fields, and in a few cases erosion of the spoil material outside of the District right-of-way has made it advisable for the District to purchase small additional tracts. Figure 59. Erosion of inner side of canal ernbank- ment near Monroe power house. Eiilbmkmenfi washouts such as this one on the west side of the tailrace canal are serious both for the Di~trictand for the f~xmerahose land is flooded, As one method of preventing erosion, the canal embankment above the water line in a few places has been "dressed' with a cover of black top soil obtained by the stripping process described on nzge

This top soil dumped on by drq lines, is smoothed by hand rakes and seeded to permanent grass. The most extensive area of "dressed"embankments is along the intake canal just above the Columbus power house.

(Fig. 61 )l The tm ends of the canal are in the flood plain section, where the embankments are largely of coarse sand and gravel. Tithout "dressing0, which is impossible unless more land is bought by the District especially for that purpase, it will be extremely difficult to ,~etvegetation started on them. So far, the only plant which has proved itself capable of thriving on a diet of quartz and water is the omnipresent Russian t-~istle(~ig. 62), but when the chilly ~indsof October sweep domn from the northwest it p&itely excuses itself and rolls south for the winter.

1. Note the black color of the embankment north of the power house in Fig. '31. Notice the contrast in color between the "tripped" surf ace material and the buf f-colored Peorian loess in the excavated section. Gravelly surface of tailrace spoil bank north of U, 8. Hignway No. bridge, CHAPTER VI RUltAN ASPECTS OF THE LOUP PROJECT

The geographer is occasionally faced with the task of analyzing and interpreting something more complex and more baffling than the landscape itself, namely the human mind. In discussing a subject such as the Loup River Public Power District Project, the geographer has not finished his task until he has made his contributior. toward an understanding of the emotional attitudes which arise in individuals and groups as a result of tangible events. It is with this thought in mind th3.t I proceed to evaluate some of the human aepects of my problem. In order to begin worlc on the construction of the project, the first requirement of the District was to acquire the necessary right-of-way property. Scattered along the route of the proposed cand were about 150 separate farms, functioning as economic units under individual guidance. Some of these farms were operated by owners, others by tenants, and still others by wage- earning "handsU. Some of the farms were free from debt; many of them were not. natever the conditions, the Loup District needed to buy a 3Fmile strip of land, from 250 to 500 or more feet wide, through this complex patchwork of fields and houses and roads. Different amounts were needed from each farm, sometimes only an acre or two, in other cases, as in the reservoir area, the entire holding.' Being a publicly-omed corporation, the District could exercise the right of eminent domain to secure the needed property whenever the owners were not inclined to sell. Considering the general economic conditions of the time, liberal offers were made to the owners, and, consequently, of more than 150 sepaxate purchase$, less than 10 per cent mere obtained through condemn* t ion proceedings. Whether or not a land owner was favorably inclined toward selling a corner or a slice of his farm to the District depended on widely-cif f ering individual circumstances. In cases where the omer occupied the land and considered it a place to renain for a lifetime and raise a family, he often disapproved of the sac. This wes particularly true if the location of the proposed canal was such that it would obstruct the view

P . 209-214 1. Bee Ap~endixB page A ior tne complete list of right-of-way purchases. from the farmyard or nrutilate the general appearance of the farm. A farmer could hardly be criticized for feeling bitter toward a provision which required that he sacrifice a beautiful young orohard just beginning to bear fruit, and see out of his living room window instead the gray-brown ugliness of a canal bank. Such cases actually occurred in connection with the Loup project. On tbe other hand, when the omer mas not living on the land, he was usually quite willing to dispose of a few acres for the price offered by the District. When the property bore in addition a heavy mortgage, this willingness sometimes amounted to active desire. As an example, the mortgage on a certain 192-acre farm crossed by the route of the canal was $lj,000. Is it to be wondered at that the owner was pleased at receiving a check of awproximately $7,030 3r the sale of 26 acres? Tith the sale of less than one-seventh of the lmd, the 1,ortga;re was reduced by more than half. Recreatinna.?. ?ossibilities in connection nit3 the qroject are as yet little developed, but it fa exgected

that mithin a fea years shade trees and sumer cottages

will line the shore of Lake Babcock. Bathing, boating, and fishing will be available for picnickers and carlpers. Not all this lies in the future, however, for vivid memories of tao Polish children fishing Seneath U.S. No. 30 bridge, a crude diving board on the pipe line brid~e,and after-dark "dipsn else- where alonz the tailrace canal remind the writer that many joys have already slimed into the past. The Loup River Public Power District Project has had a tonic effect on the towns located along the route of the canal. This is particularly true of Columbus. The influx of workers, both skilled and unskilled, brought an excellent volume of trade to the cafes and restaurants, and all ::otels and rooming houses in the city have e.xperienced almost unprecedented prosperity. All lines of retail trade have improved, rentals. have increased, and property values have recovered mch of their former status. A leading real estate off ice in Columbus, in July, 1936, did not know of a single house for rent in the city. Even rooms for rent were widely scattered and often inadequately furnished. Faith in the permanence of this civic prosperity is evidenced by the fact that between February, 1934, and April, 1037, no less than 57 building permits were granted by the city for the construction of residences of more than $500 in value. 1 It is not surprising to find that Columbus business and professional men have been enthusiastic boosters for the Loup pover project! Although the construction of the Loup project did improve conditions materially, it did not eliminate the local unemployment problem. * Even after hiring several hundred men from the county relief rolls, there were practically alnays more job-seekers on the waiting list. Undoubtedly some of them drifted in from neighboring cities and towns in search of work or adventure. In evaluatinq the effect of the project on em~loyment, it must be remembered that the influence of the project has not been confined to the Columbus area. Thousands of unknown factory workers scattered throughout the country helped to produce the materials used in different ~hase~of the work, and hundreds of railroad employees had a part in transporting the various naterials to their destination. Eith the completion of the project in a few months, it seems reasonable to expect that there will be a

1. From figures made available by the office of the Bity Clerk, Columbus, Nebraska. 2. More exact employment statistics are given in Appendix D nage 220. decline in local industrial activity. Many of the workers on the project will leave the city, particularly those classed in the skilled and semi-skilled e;rouus, and there will be less money to be spent in retail establishments. After this decline, however, working conditions will improve again more or less in correspondence with economic conditions in the state as a whole. Meanwhile, a new landscape is taking form in eastern Nebraska. The lower Loup River which required many laborious centuries to carve its natural channel to the present state of development has, in the course of a fer months, been lifted :>y man out of that channel. A carefree stream sprawling comfortably on its shift in? sandy bed has been roused to work by concrete and a geometrically-patterned canal. The old bed remains but little changed, ready to receive its former burden back again when man does not need his new-captured slave. The two will cone to~etheronce more, rives and bed, siould man grow tired of his little game of dikes and dams, and switches and generators. To prepare the nay for the new slave, man has cut trees and cleared brush. Giant cottonwoods,

whose leaves for decades rustled silently at sun and cloud, have bowed their stately forms to make way for an u~lyditch. Green fields and waving pasture grasses have been covered by tm parallel ridges of gray-brown sand and clay wilich serve as banks to keep the Loup Iiiver water within its new path. Seen from the air, the diversion canal appears as an unsightly scar across an otherwise charming and well-patterned landscape. (Fig. 63) From tilis nelv eartn-scar, however, man expects to reap more satisfaction than he g~"inedfrom admiring the beauty of the previous scene, for from it ile will capture new light for .iis homes and new strength Tor ciis tasks. The construction of the project has definitely modified the former cultural landscape. Farms have been reduced in size, in a few cases enough to make necessary inportant adjustments in the farm economy-- the amount of labor and machinery needed, or the nu~~iberof livestock pastured. Springs and creeks have been affected in such a way as to reduce land values. Roads and bridges have appeared in new locations. On the reservoir site homes have been vacated and buildings have been removed. (~1~s.64, 65 and 66) In the town of Genoa, water and sewage lines have been relocated, houses have been torn down, and a The irregularity of the field pattern mde necessary by the canal is well shown on this picture, Cznal route was shifted northward to avoid a cemetery--it s present route is so close to Shell Creek (upper left) that a serious seepage problem results. ~arvestingthe last oats crop from the reservoir site--1936, Incidentally, a very poor crop.

Figure 65, A farn place which had to be removed from the reservoir site.

Figure 66. Soon the aite of this once fine farm home will be under water. park has been ruined. (Fig. 67) Near the Columbus power nlant a rural schoolhouse has been moved, and close to the Looking Glass siphbn another stands with its back to the cenal spoil bank. Here a teacher will have to warn her pupils qainst playing too near the enticing but dangerous water. (Fig. 68) Telephone lines and fences have been moved or removed. The objective of all these changes, which have involved time and effort on the part of many people, and expense on the ?art of the government, has been to make possible the utilization of more electricity. To convey this mch-desired comcodity, hundreds of !ailes of transmission lines are being built and mill be built throuyhout the eastern part of the state. Along the roads and across the fields these lines present a strikinz picture, symbolizing in bold fashion the new era of 2ower vhich is reaching even to the rural districts. (Fig. 69) The total influence of the Loup River Public Power District Project reaches far beyond the boundaries of Nebraska. Each new hydro-electric power project in the United States, whether put into operation by means of nublic or private capital, has a blighting effect upon the coal industry of the country. Almost in Figure 67. Canal section through the south part of Genoa,

Figure 68, Rural scho&lhouse, with playground bordering canal spoil bank, South of State Highway No, 22, near Looking Glass siphon. Figure 69. Line by which power projects at North Platte and Columbus may be connected, d.irect ratio as new hydro plants are built, more coal miners are thrown out of mork. About 12,000 tons, or 200 carload.8, of coal per year are burned in the steam plants at Grand Island and Columbus to generate the electricity for Columbus alone. T'ne freight charges on this coal average slightly more than $100 per I car. Besides the miners affected vhen this coal is no longer needed by Columbus, there ?re the xining commies, the manufacturers of mining machinery, railroad comanies, railroad employees, pover distri- butinq companies, qoner comparly employees, manufacturers of steam ~lantmachinery and their employees--the list might be continuec?. At the same tirne, new jobs are created by the construction and transportation of materials for the hydro plants, and many men are employed in building the plants and in keeping them in onerat ion. Ruman adjustments must be made to this ever-evolving economic system. Because of the irregular flow of the streams am? the inadequacy of their discahr,res, it will be necessary to maintain the steam nlants at may points to assure the required

1. Statistical est ima.t es by LW. Dunn, Borthwestern Public Service Company, Columbus, Nebraska, p. 120. amount of nfirmn ?ewer. Diesel plants, burning cheap crude oil, promise to be the most economical type for Qtand-by"uraoses in the future, as unlike the coal- burning steam plants they do not have to be kept hot at all times. A broad inter-connected system of steam, Diesel, and hydro plants mould seem to be the most desirable tyue of organization for distributing electric current here in the Middle West. Many peonle nipht be inclined to challenge the ~isdoniof spending #12,000,000 of public money on the develonment of '?:rciro-electric paler on tne 1os;er Loup in Nebraska. I nave heard the Loup project cursed as r scheme of "pork-b~rrel"politicians, and I have heard it raised as virtually a God-send to a forgotten state. Vl~o is right? No one can say--probably neither view- point will stand. After the nroject has been in operation a few years, the economist my, if he will, attempt to ?rove that its construction was sound or unsound public policy. Thzt is yet to be determined.

Unfortunate1y, change is not synonymous with improvement. Thether or not now is the proper time to embark on an extensive program of water power development is hard to decide. llany individuals ere affected adversely by the construct ion of the Loup River hydro- 1-97 electric project. Thousands of peo-ile within easy access of the new transmission lines can ill afford to buy electricity at this time. The policy of lending ~ublicmoney and lrcreasing the public debt to help individuals buy comforts is, at the best, questionable. Nevertheless, the project fits well into a program of conserving natural resources. It is a move toward the well Seing of all to uake a thrust at the demon of Taste. Petroleum and natural gas are rapidly being exhausted by policies of ruthless exploit ation. Coal, though be in^ depleted more slowly, is constantly becoming more difficult and more costly to remove. As these three sources of -Jower become less available, it becones more and more incumbent upon individuals and governments to see that the permanent sources of pomer and wealth are develoned and preserved. When beczuse of personal interests or prejudices, individuals make choices ~hichare injurious to public welfare, the government must step in with a wiser, steadier hand. The replacecble resources in our forests, rivers, ground water, and soil must be kept intact. It is the duty of one generation to the next. CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION

In this geographic introduction to the Loup River Public Power District Project it has been my purpose, first of all, to describe the project, and illustrate it with mags and pictures so that a reader may understand something as to what it is, where it is, and horn it is expected to operate. It is a new feature of the cultural landscape of eestern Nebraska, and as such it is of pa-ticular interest to geographers because in its broader aspects and in many of its details it shows a direct adjustment to the physic21 landscape of the area. Certain features of the physicd. background have made possible its construct ion. The nature of the stream flow and of the flood plain and terraces along the valley have been described in considerable detail. A general analysis has been made of ';he market area availa.ble to the project, and an attempt has been made to point out th- probable course of new market development s. Since without a number of factors essentially non- geographic the project would probably never have been 199

built, I have thought it advisable to include a chapter on the history of water power development on the lower Loup River. Chapter I11 helps to make the story complete and convincing. To avoid losing the reader in a maze of details concerning dikes, weirs, jetties, second feet, and kilowatts, I have atterqted in Ciapter UI to paint a nicture of the project in bold strokes from the vantage point of an open-minded individual trying to understand it in relation to the general pattern of economic and social nielfzre. If I have succeeded in all these aims I shall consider that the time spent in preparing this study has been well worth mhile. Water power development on the lo~,~-gradientstreams of the Great Plains is a subject which has had little consideration in either scientific or non-technical literature, but it is one vhich deserves mch further attention. It is to be hoped thst this paper will open the field and make some contribution toward the development of a technique which will be helpful to later studies. The entire subject of hydro-electric potentialities on the semi-arid plains needs to be understood in 200 all its implications. It is only by analyzing our physical and cultural resources with a courageous view to the future that we can plan a program of economic and social development equal to the task of adjustment which lies before us.

LOUP RIVER PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT Control Estimates (US 13, 1936)

Non-construction Costs Right-of-way ....$831,566.00 Engineering .... 658,000.00 Legal ...... 95,000.00 District Expense . . 1.048.52 Total Non-construction Costs ...$I, 725,614.59 Construction Costs Construction under Contract. ....$4,917,122.21 Construction not under Contract. . 1.355.630.00 ~otalconstruction costs .....6,272,752.21 Total Construction and Non-construction Costs ...$7,998,366.80 Contingencies...... 381,633.20 Interest During Construction ... j20.000.00 TOTAL ...... #8,700,000.00 .LOUP RIVER PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT Control Estimate of District Expense (Mar 13. 1936

.Item Amount Directore' Salaries ...... $21.870.32 District Salaries ...... 49.510.82 Printing and Stationery .....7.85532 waveling Expense ...... 3.960.37 Janitor Service and Supplies ..... 1.096.34 Telephone and Telegraph .....2.755.11 Postage ...... 2.566.29 Rent ...... 1.390.00 Miscellaneous ...... 4.215.01 Auditing ...... 1.192.77 General Office Equipment ...... 5.071.35 Transportation Equipment ...... 9.890.74 Engineering Equipment ....7.791.34 Insurance and Bonds ...... 8.511.12 Automobile Expense ...... 13.371.69 DISTRICT Control Estimate of Right-of-way (my 13. 1936) -Item Amount State Water Grants ...... $ .5.941.75 Lands Purchased to Date ...... 633.668.94 Expense of Purchasing ...... 23.675.35 Easements ...... 5.297.00 RoadRelocationLands ...... 4.149.00 Lands under Contract ...... 12.911.00 Condemnation ...... 2. 300~00 Drainage and Crop Damage ...... 7.625.00 Well Damage ...... 1.000.00 Expense of Closing Roads in Reservoir ... 12.500.00 Boglemen Damage ...... 50.00 Pratt Crop Damage ...... 25.00 Lightner Spring...... 1.000.00 Transportation of School Children ...... 500.00 Looking Glass Drainage District ...... ~.OOO.OO Looking Glass Drainage ...... ~.~OO.OO Hultiuan.. Gags Drainage ...... ~.OOO.OO Dry Creek-Cherry Creek Ditch ...1.000.00 Land for Headworks ...... 72.400.00 Slop over from Spoil Banks ...... 6.750.00 Carstenson Sand Pit ...... 5.000.00 Bridge No . 1 ...... 8.000.00 Right-of-way Monroe-Columbus Trans . Line . . 4.200.00 Genoa Property Damage .....3. 000 .00 George Adamy Property Damage ...... 1.000.00 Gleason Property Damage ...... 1.100.00 Sub Total ...... $823.593.04 Contingencies ...... 7.972.96 TOTAL ...... $831.566.00 LOUP RIVER FLIBLIC POWER DISTFlICT

Control Estimate of Legal Expense (m13, 1936) -Item Amount Expended to Date...... $56, $40.09 Local Attorneys1 Salaries, April 1, 1936 to February 26, 1937...... ll,OOO.OO Local Attorneys' Expense Acoounts ...... 1,000.00 Attorney Mullen ...... 10,000.00 Special Counsel Mullen Suit ...500.00 Trustees1 Bill ...... 6,000.00 Trustees1 Attorney...... 1,000.00 Court Costs ...... 3.000.00 $39,340.09 Contingencies ...... 5.659.91 TOTAL ...... 9bss,.OO

LOUP RIVER PUBLIO POTER DISTRICT PROJECT

- 1- Date Total Employed

January 1, 1934 - - April 1, 1934 7 5 July 1, 1934 October 1, 1934 January 1, 1935 April 1, 1935 July 1, 1935 742 October 1, la35 913 January 1, 1936 1163 April 1, 1936 890 JU~Y1, 1936 9 56 October 1, 1936 1352 January 1, 1937 April 1, 1937

1. Figures furnished by the office of Mr. Peterson, P. W. A. Inspector at Columbus. BIBLIOGRAPHY- - -_-_-_____ BIBLIO@RBPKY

-Books

Barrows, Ha.rold K. : Water Power E ineeri ~c~raw-~i11= ~nywi York, First Edition, 1927. Barnes, Harry Elmer: The Histor1 Prospect of the Social Sciences. Chapter 11, Turnan Geography 5 by Jean Brunhes. A. A. ~nopf,New York, 1925. Gilbert, Chester G., and Pogue, Joseph E.: America1s Power Resources. The Century Company, New York, 1925. Hagedorn, Eugene: The Franciscans in Nebraska. "~istorio~Sketchesof M=-Nebraskan by Francis Dischner. The Hun~phrey Democrat and the Norfolk Daily News, Nebraska, 1931. James, Preston: & Outline of Geography. Ginn and Company, Boston, 1935. Parklns, A. E., and WhltaPcer, J. R. (editors): Our Natural Resources & Their Conservation. John Wlley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1936. Special eurve~Re ort. Department of Public Works, Bureau-% of rri~ation,Water Power. and Drainage, of 6estate of ~ebraska,1931. Voskull, Walter H.: The Economics ---of Water Power Development. A. W. Shaw Company, New York, 1928. Reporte Pamphlets

Brown, Rome G.: The Water-Power Problern in the United States .(~eprint~otheYa~-- Journal ) , November, 1914. Civic Servioe Surve of Columbus, Nebraska. --iPde~$mJ. F . Durr ana Company, Research Engineers, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1934. Fifteenth Annual Report. The Federal Power Commission, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1935. Interim Report. The Federal Power Commission, National Power Survey, United States Government Prlntlng Office, Washington, D. C., 1935. Inventory of the Water Resources of the b8iselssi~~i River Drainme a.National Resources -Board, Unitea States Government Printing Office, Washlngton, D. C., 1935. Lugn, A. L.: The Pleistocene Geoloffy of Nebraska. Bulletin No. 10, Second seriG. Nebraska Geological Survey, 1935. Power Ca aclt and Production 2 the United States. - *r supply Paper No. m. ~nitemates Geological Survey, Washlngton, D. C., 192s Reaional Factors & National Planning. Nation81 Resources Committee, United States Government Printing Offlce, Washington, D.C., 1935. Report of En ineers. Loup River Public Power District, -d-ff--ro umbus Nebraska, 1933. Soil Survex Of Colfax County, Nebraska. Bulletin No. - 11, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, United States Depe.rtment of A@;rlculture, Washington, D. C., 1930. Soil Survey of Dodge County, Nebraska. Bureau of Bolle, - United States Department of Agriculture, Washlngton, D. C., 1916. So11 Surve of Platte County, Nebraska. Bulletin No. ---% 2, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, United Statee DeDartment of Aarlculture.

Surface Water u 1 of Nebraska. Water Supply Paper No. %- 0, ~nnedStates Geological Survey, Washington, D. C., 1909. Tennessee Valle Authorlt , m-p.UReport of the dsdAuthor y, nlted States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1937.

Newspapers Nlscellaneous

Constltution of the State of Nebraska, Compiled and distributed under the authority of Frank Marsh, Secretary of Sta.te, Lincoln, Nebraska, l9X). -Tfle Columbus Daily Telegr8.m. (September, 1932-- April, 1937) -The Lincoln State Journal. ( September, 1936--by, 1937)