LINCOLN, Neb. (KMTV) — It's not often when you hear phrases like "transformative" and "big idea" when describing legislation in sometimes mundane committee hearings.
But that’s what we heard Thursday in the Natural Resources Committee about a variety of water projects.
“This is an opportunity to do a big swing for the State of Nebraska that will have a material transformative impact, both economically and for countless Nebraskans across this state,” said Speaker Mike Hilgers.
The speaker led a committee over the last year that came up with massive water projects.
These projects include: a massive sandpit, 4,000-acre lake in or near Sarpy County that Hilgers said would rival Lake Okoboji in Iowa; a marina at the state’s largest lake, Lake McConaughy; a major expansion of the marina at Lewis and Clark Lake in northeast Nebraska; and a lodge and event center in nearby Niobrara.
All of this would cost a total of $200 million.
The cost of the new lake is $70 million and Al Davis of the Sierra Club believes the money can be better spent.
“Are we spending $70 million so people — so rich people — can have homes along the edge of the lake, or are we spending $70 million to benefit all Nebraskans? I just don’t see this benefiting everybody,” said Davis.
Hilgers says more than $5 billion would come from the construction of the lake and private development nearby, plus it would make hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
“These are just economic dollars-and-cents. It’s tough to state the amount of value that these projects — whether it be the lake, the marina, the additional lodging facility in Niobrara — will do for countless Nebraskans,” said Hilgers.
Most testifiers spoke in support of the rural water projects, coming from both the southeast and northeast corners of the state. Many said this would be a huge boost to areas that rely on tourism.
Businessman Dan Broze from northeast Nebraska supported the bill and said it is one way to get people to move to rural Nebraska — something not easy to do.
“We have to figure out a way to attract more people to the State of Nebraska. We don’t need to be losing them,” said Broze.
The exact location of the new lake is unknown but it would be between Lincoln and Omaha and near the Platte River.
The new lake project has two different components that are handled by different committees. The Natural Resources Committee deals with the mechanism allowing private development to begin plans to develop around the new lake. The Appropriations Committee funds the project and any related studies that come with it.
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