Big lake dreams dashed by feasibility report

Like a comet that swings by the earth every few years, there's been talk now and then about placing some huge development between Omaha and Lincoln along the Platte River.

Between the state's two largest cities would be an ideal location for a new football stadium for the Cornhuskers, the reasoning goes. An airport there would attract more flights to and from our state. And wouldn't a huge lake look great along Interstate 80 in that spot? 

Back in the day, the idea was to dam up the Platte River and create a massive reservoir upriver from Ashland and Gretna. But those proposals were quickly shot down like pheasants on opening weekend after residents of Ashland – whose homes and businesses would be inundated by the lake – howled objections.

So a group of state legislators, flush with money during the COVID-19 pandemic, floated another idea: let's dig an enormous sandpit lake, large enough to rival popular Lake Okoboji in Iowa, in the floodplain between Ashland and Gretna.

A sandpit lake – created by mining out the sand – wouldn't displace any residents, they argued, and a 3,600-acre lake would lure tourists from out of state, inspire development of condominiums, parks and restaurants, and, best of all, help retain and attract population/workforce.

Then-State Sen. Mike Hilgers (now our attorney general) pitched the project as "a big swing." And it was. The pretty conservative Nebraska legislature rarely sticks out its collective neck. Floating a $1-billion-plus project was thinking big, unusually big.

Lawmakers set aside $20 million to determine if the lake – dubbed "Lake Mike" around the Capitol because three senators who backed the idea were named Mike (Mike Flood and Mike McDonnell were the others) – was feasible. That generated a glossy Powerpoint and brochure picturing marinas full of boats and lakeside, luxury condominiums – a literal Florida resort on the Plains.

Well, call off the boat parade. A report released recently ditched the idea of digging a massive sandpit between Ashland and Gretna because of projections that it would eventually seep "contaminants" into the wellfield that provides drinking water for the City of Lincoln.

That no-go conclusion must have been reached pretty quickly because the feasibility study quickly pivoted in scope from its original intent – looking at whether it would impact wellfields operated by Lincoln and Omaha – to other alternatives.

Don't get me wrong – if Mother Nature had provided a massive water body between the state's two largest cities, I'd love it, and I'm sure we'd see more residents in our state. "More people" has been sort of a Holy Grail over the years to solve all of the state's problems, from our workforce shortage and high property taxes.

But instead, the Almighty gave us the Platte River: a mile wide and an inch deep as they say, "too thick to drink, too thin to plow." The Platte is fun to run around in when the river's down and it's a braided sandy beach in summer, but not conducive for motor boats or jet skis.

The alternatives outlined in the recent big lake report seem more improbable than Lake Mike. Digging two sandpit lakes near Louisville would displace more people and some existing lakes, and the report admitted there aren't many good sites for huge sandpits. So the report veered into damming up the Salt Creek west of Ashland and the Elkhorn River south of Nickerson. Both would flood farmland, never a popular idea, and have issues with silt.

So it's back to the drawing board for the next big dream along I-80 between the state's two largest cities.

There's already two nice state parks in that area (Mahoney and Platte River) and Ashland is developing into a tourist town, with wineries, art galleries and boutiques, a couple nice steakhouses and eventually, a brewery with trendy pickleball courts. 

For water worshipers, the good news is that there's already more than 280 sandpit lakes in the lower Platte River floodplain providing more than 8,000 acres of water recreation and lakeside housing sites. And the recent report predicted that private developers will no doubt create more sandpit lakes.

So that's good news for taxpayers. Instead of $1 billion of taxpayer funds pursuing the big lake dream, let private business do it.

Paul Hammel has covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. He retired in April as senior contributor with the Nebraska Examiner. He was previously with the Omaha World-Herald, Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha Sun.  A native of Ralston, he loves traveling and writing about the state.