LINCOLN — A reservoir bigger than Iowa’s Lake Okoboji could be bound for eastern Nebraska, under a proposal unveiled Monday by state lawmakers.

The lake would span 4,000 acres, reach 30 feet or so deep, and stretch 7 miles, according to Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, speaker of the Legislature. And it would be dredged near the Platte River in a location roughly equidistant from Omaha and Lincoln.

Hilgers announced the proposal along with a list of other water-related projects Monday, the result of a half-year process undertaken by the Legislature’s Statewide Tourism and Recreational Water Access and Resource Sustainability (STAR WARS) special committee, which was created by Legislative Bill 406.

The committee will request $200 million from the state to support the projects, Hilgers said.

The idea of damming the Platte to create a lake along the Interstate 80 corridor has come up every so often in Nebraska. The earliest push was in 1896. In the past, residents of Ashland, which would have been left underwater in past proposals, have pushed back when the Legislature has proposed studying it.

But Hilgers said this proposal is different. First off, it doesn’t include a dam.

He said the group was mandated to not explore damming the Platte and to not affect Ashland or the communities and economic development in that area. And, he said, they’re trying not to negatively affect those that draw water from the Platte, such as Lincoln and the Metropolitan Utilities District.

“We believe that there is an opportunity to build a reservoir of this size that will do all of those things: that will add economic opportunity for our state and help us control more of our own water, sustain more of our own water while not in any way impacting Ashland and the surrounding communities,” Hilgers said.

For more on this article click HERE