Large new reservoir between Omaha and Lincoln eyed for possible pandemic funding

"Do or do not. There is no try."

Yoda is the teacher, and this is the Legislature's STAR WARS Committee — and it is thinking big with construction of a large reservoir between Omaha and Lincoln funded by federal coronavirus recovery assistance on the table for possible consideration now.

That potential project, with its strong recreation, tourism, flood control, economic development and water sustainability aspects, joins water development opportunities already identified at Lake McConaughy near Ogallala, and at Lewis and Clark Lake and Niobrara State Park along the border with South Dakota, all of which are on the legislative study committee's project list.

"It's a concept now, not a proposal," Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, chairman of the Statewide Tourism and Recreational Water Access and Resources Sustainability, or STAR WARS, Committee, stressed during an interview in his Capitol office.

"It's one of many projects we're looking at," he said, and it's under review by the committee's engineering and financial consultants now.

Read more: https://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/large-new-reservoir-between-omaha-and-lincoln-eyed-for-possible-pandemic-funding/article_cce357fa-80c6-5eec-814f-3753517f7ee1.html
(Lincoln Journal Star)