Nov. 5, 2010

Pathfinder Dam (Photo courtesy the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)

Irrigation and power generation on the North Platte River will be the focus of a Nov. 12 seminar at UNL's Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff.

Extension Educator Gary Stone will speak on the North Platte River Bureau of Reclamation projects, including dams and power plants. He’ll share some of the history of Pathfinder Dam, which was constructed 100 years ago and is now the centerpiece of the project.

A series of dams on the North Platte in Wyoming harness snowmelt from the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado. The projects generate power and provide water to several hundred thousand acres of farmland in western Nebraska and southeastern Wyoming. The project makes the central Nebraska Panhandle the state’s most extensive area of surface water irrigation.

The seminar will begin at 3 p.m. in the Bluestem Room at the Panhandle Center at 4502 Avenue I. It is free and open to the public.

News Release
Panhandle Research and Extension Center