10 | Destination Elwood/Johnson Lake 2025
THE HISTORY OF Johnson Lake, Nebraska
An Abridged History of Johnson Lake by Jeff Buettner, Government & Public Relations Manager, Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District The area now covered by Johnson Lake was once a low-lying basin surrounded by gently sloping hills. The land, used mostly for pasturing livestock, was dotted with a few structures, including a rural school house (known as the Antelope School) and a couple farmsteads. The construction of The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District’s huge irrigation and hydroelectric project -- anchored by Kingsley Dam and Lake McConaughy and spanning Nebraska from Keith County to Adams County-- began in 1936 and would change the landscape in the area. During the surveying process that preceded construction, Central’s engineers determined that a site southeast of Lexington was ideally suited for construction of a regulating reservoir and two hydroplants. Construction of the dam on the south side of the basin began in 1939 and was completed in 1940. Soon after, water from Lake McConaughy was diverted from the Platte River below the city of North Platte into Central’s 75.6-milelong Supply Canal and the process of filling Johnson Lake for the first time began. When full, the lake covered 2,230 surface acres within 13 miles of shoreline and held almost 50,000 acrefeet of water (enough water to cover
50,000 acres with 12 inches of water). In places, the water reached depths of more than 50 feet. The lake was named for George E. Johnson, Central’s chief engineer. Johnson played a vital role in the promotion and design of the project from 1915 until its approval in 1935. He then became chief engineer and general manager of the project during its construction and subsequent operation. The lake that bears his name is an important component of Central’s project. As a regulating reservoir for the Johnson No. 1 and Johnson No. 2 (J-1 and J-2) Hydroplants, the lake converts the uniform flow in the canal above the reservoir into the variable flow required by the hydroplants. A.C. Tilley, who succeeded Johnson as Central’s general manager in 1947, said the lake also serves as a secondary source of water in case of a “calamity” along the Supply Canal that might interrupt the flow of water to the hydroplants as well as a ready source of irrigation water for almost 50,000 acres of farmland along the Phelps Canal when irrigation demand suddenly increases. Tilley added that the lake can also serve as a “catch basin” for flows in the Supply Canal when rain storms temporarily halt demand for irrigation water. Development of that potential started slowly. The large body of water that gradually appeared in the lake turned the minds of many in neighboring towns to
the recreational development. A number of area sportsmen, including Neil Shreck of Bertrand, Claude Smith and Judge J.S. Fitzsimmons of Elwood (Smith and Fitzsimmons were original members of Central’s board of directors) and a Mr. Bracken from Lexington, formed a wildlife preservation committee to make Johnson Lake “a spot to be enjoyed by everyone who desires to use it.” Included in the committee’s plans were a public boat dock and beautification plans for the shoreline that would include tree and shrub planting. possibility of By 1950, boats were common on the lake, but almost all were small wooden or aluminum fishing boats powered by five and ten-horsepower motors. By the early ‘60’s, larger crafts constructed of fiberglass with 50- and 60-hp motors were seen much more frequently on the lake. The experience of owning a cabin at the lake was simply not complete without a boat, and the number of boats swelled rapidly during the 1960’s. As evidence, a group of cabin owners from Grand Island cooperated on construction of a boat dock that extended two blocks out into the lake and could accommodate as many as 32 boats. During the first several years of the lake’s existence, Central permitted only one “concession stand” at the lake, an establishment operated by a Mr. Remmenga from Elwood. The business
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