22 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN March 2025 PRODUCTION The Perkins County Canal Project Water challenges have been synonymous with western Nebraska since territorial times. First-generation Nebraskans built some of the earliest irrigation canals in the western United States, in part to irrigate produce crops for the soldiers at nearby Fort McPherson. Irrigation canals on the North Platte River in the Panhandle were built in the late 1800s to supplement water supplies necessary to provide reliable crops and spearhead federal efforts in the early 1900s to reclaim the West. Pathfinder Reservoir was one of the first dams ever completed by the newly formed U.S. Reclamation Service. Later generations had the vision that led to construction of Lake McConaughy near Ogallala which, upon completion in 1941, became the largest reservoir in the state. The Sutherland Supply Canal, built less than a decade earlier to bring North Platte water south under the bed of the South Platte River, was one of the largest earth-moving projects in the world at the time – second only to the Panama Canal. Nebraskans have always had a progressive vision when it comes to developing water projects and expanding limited water supplies. Fortunately, with the South Platte River, Nebraska is once again stepping up to the plate to respond – this time with the Perkins County Canal project. A Changing South Platte River The South Platte River originates in Colorado before entering Nebraska near Big Springs. Conditions on the South Platte River have changed dramatically over the last 25 years. From 1972 to 2002, non-irrigation season (Oct. 15 to April 1) flows in the river averaged around 620 cubic feet per second (cfs). But flows in the more recent 2003 to 2024 period dropped to about 335 cfs, a nearly 50 percent reduction. Meanwhile upstream in Colorado, demand for water has continued to increase, with roughly 70,000 people moving into Colorado’s
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