The Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District is going to delay the Johnson Lake drawdown by one week until September 8. Central originally planned for a Sept. 2 start of a drawdown at Johnson Lake in preparation for the installation of two concrete boat ramps at Bullhead Point near Medo’s Resort and at Phillips Lake.
Central sent out a release that the drawdown would start on Sept. 2 after Labor Day weekend to ensure that users could enjoy Johnson Lake over the holiday weekend. Central will attempt to keep Johnson Lake at usable levels through Sept. 7, however the lake may drop down to the lower end of the operation range (elevation 2617.0) from Sept. 2-7 as irrigation season comes to close. Shallow areas of the lake may have issues with shore stations at those elevations but boat ramps at the Johnson Lake inlet and the north marina areas should still be usable.
It is very difficult to forecast weather and irrigation demands out into the first week of September. The initial drawdown plan included a buffer to adjust to those unknown water demands. This delay will eliminate any buffer that Central has to complete the ramp projects. The District hopes to return the lake to normal operating level by early October.
This project cannot be delayed any further as the work needs to be completed prior to the upcoming Hydrocycling Period (Oct 17-Nov 10) that is an agreement with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service associated with the Whooping Crane migration and the winter conditions that follow that period. There is another Hydrocycling Period from March 17 through April 30. (https://cnppid.com/operations/johnson-lake-operations)
Central understands the concerns of a September drawdown but this is the best time to complete the projects. The timing of this outage and the delay was determined based on many factors including the end or irrigation season, our work with the contractor, lake uses, allowance for shore station removal, winter conditions, and our operational requirements of our system.
Please continue to reach out to the District with any further questions.