Platte River dam debate renewed

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LINCOLN — Boating in the Ozarks this summer, State Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha started wondering about how much money Nebraska was losing because of its shortage of large recreational lakes.

Eastern Nebraskans seeking big water need to drive to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri or Lake Okoboji in northwest Iowa to water-ski, sail or fish.

Lautenbaugh concluded that it's time to reconsider a big but controversial idea — damming the Platte River between Omaha and Lincoln to create a 25-mile-long lake for recreation, flood control and hydropower.

Backers of the idea, which include former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub, last proposed a study of the multibillion-dollar project five years ago.

But it quickly drowned in the Nebraska Legislature amid a deluge of opposition from residents of Ashland, a community of 2,500 along the Platte that would have to be relocated, for the most part, to make way for such a reservoir.

But times change. Lautenbaugh said for the sake of bulking up the state's tax base, keeping young people from moving away and creating a magnet for economic development, it's time to again consider the idea.

"It would be such a game- changer for the face of the region," Lautenbaugh said. "It could transform our future."

Groans are already rising from Ashland, which sent busloads of citizens to Lincoln in 2006 to oppose a $3 million feasibility study of the idea.

"I'm sad to hear this is coming back," Mayor Paul Lienke said. "It may be a game-changer, but when you talk about the community, the families and the lives this would disrupt, it's a tragedy for us."

Lienke said where his house is now would be under 30 feet of water if the lake were built. The lake would cost billions, he said, so "rich folks would have a place to boat."

"If I wanted to live by a lake, I'd move back to Minnesota," Lienke said.

Lautenbaugh, best known for legislation that legalized cigar bars in Nebraska, said he's in the very preliminary stages of determining how to proceed. But he is dead serious.

Daub and other supporters of the reservoir informally called "Lake Linoma" were encouraged that the discussion has begun anew.

Daub said he had not spoken with Lautenbaugh but also believes that times have changed since the project was shot down in 2006.

The state needs ideas that will generate economic development and new tax revenue, he said, and a Nebraska recreation lake more than 10 times larger than West Okoboji Lake would draw businesses, and business leaders, to the state.

Lake Travis outside Austin, Texas, has helped make that city a hub for high-tech businesses, supporters reason, and so could a massive lake in eastern Nebraska that would be lined by resorts, luxury homes and huge marinas.

"I recognize that there's some discomfort with this ... but I think this is one of the biggest ideas that would create the most positive future for our state that I can imagine," said Daub, who first raised the idea in 1999.

Damming up the Platte in the area of Ashland has been floated on and off since the Great Depression.

The Platte is at its narrowest point in the vicinity of Mahoney State Park, and the location, midway between Omaha and Lincoln, has spawned plenty of interest over the decades.

The project has always faced multiple hurdles besides its cost — estimated at $2 billion in 2006 — and the task of relocating and compensating multiple landowners.

Federal permission would be needed to generate electricity. Multiple studies would be required to assess the dam's impact on endangered species like the pallid sturgeon and other wildlife.

Wellfields that provide drinking water to both Omaha and Lincoln would be inundated, and both Interstate 80 and tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad would have to be relocated.

In 2006, one state authority on dams gave the proposal odds of less than 1-in-100.

But Daub and State Sen. Rich Pahls of Omaha said big ideas, like big reservoirs, often face initial opposition.

Pahls said he worked on construction of a large lake near his hometown of Downs, Kan. Today, he said, it's hard to find anyone who still feels that the Glen Elder Dam was a bad idea.

"The initial reaction was totally negative, since it took people's land," Pahls said. "Right now, it is providing some incentive for people to come here and fish and hunt."

Daub noted that property owners opposed moving out to facilitate construction of the Qwest Center (now CenturyLink Center) along Omaha's riverfront. But negotiations were successful, and businesses were well- compensated, he said.

"I think it's very shortsighted to not at least sit down and talk about it first," Daub said. "It may cause a need for a little relocation, but Ashland would become the epicenter of commercial activity for this six-county area."

Daub and Jim Krance, a retired Omaha city planner and an avid sailor, worked up a map of the proposed Lake Linoma.

The lake would be up to 70 feet deep and back up water westward to Waverly, near Lincoln, and northward to Highway 92 near Omaha.

The pair said a taxing district could be formed to finance construction of the lake. Revenue from sales of hydro-electricity generated by the dam could also be applied to paying off bonds.

Daub said general tax dollars would not be needed.

Critics of the lake idea doubt that. Jessica Preister, the Ashland city administrator, said that with the state's budget crunch, it's questionable that there's even money for a feasibility study.

Lautenbaugh said that he knows money is always an obstacle but that, typically, funding can be found if an idea is worthy enough. Financing the billion-dollar cost of building such a dam, he added, is way down the road.

The bottom line, the senator said, is discovering the potential benefits of a Lake Linoma to taxpayers, tourists, developers and job seekers is worthy of a discussion.

"How could we not look at this?" Lautenbaugh asked.

World-Herald staff writer Emily Nohr contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

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