(HOLDREGE, Neb.) - The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s board of directors held their monthly meeting on Monday handling routine business while listening to reports and updates from management and staff. Newly hired general manager Tim Cerveny was also in attendance to introduce himself to the board and staff. He will begin working at Central on November 2 and be officially recognized as the general manager at the January 2027 Board Meeting.
At Monday’s board meeting:
- The directors approved a purchase requisition in the amount of $58,811 to Electro Industries for the purchase of KWH Meters for the hydroplants.
- Irrigation and Water Services manager Scott Dicke reported that the irrigation staff has been monitoring aquatic growth in the canals that occurred after the recent rain events. Staff is using aquatics to kills the plant growth now to get ahead of it for next season.
- Dicke shared video of a drone system that was used to spray the dam at Elwood Reservoir. Use of the drone took around one hour this year, compared to staff spending three days last year spraying by hand.
- Controller and finance manager Rochelle Jurgens told the board that water bills were sent out to customers. Just over $5 million was billed out for the 2026 irrigation season.
The board was updated on the Educational Open House scheduled for October 19th in Keith County. To accommodate strong public interest, the location and time of an originally planned small group event have changed. The educational open house will now be held from 4 to 7 pm (MT), at the NACO West Training Center in Ogallala, rather than a meeting requested by a small group at the Lake McConaughy Visitor Center.
During the open house, participants will be able to come and go at their convenience and visit information stations at their own pace and learn about various aspects of Lake McConaughy water operations. The materials and topics will reflect information shared publicly at the CNPPID Board of Directors meeting on September 8, which was attended by a number of Keith County residents and irrigation customers.
Central staff will be available to answer questions about water supply, water demands at Lake McConaughy, federal regulatory requirements, and conservation practices implemented by the District. The open house is intended to highlight how District operations have changed since the last drought period and to showcase efforts to maximize water savings.