Charles W. McConaughy was known as the "Father of the Tri-County Irrigation Project" in Nebraska. Along with George P. Kingsley of Minden, McConaughy began in 1913 what was to be a life-long effort to promote irrigation in central Nebraska.
McConaughy was born in Illinois in 1859 and worked in Ohio and in Pennsylvania before coming to Holdrege, Nebraska in 1892 to start a grain business. His work with the farmers in Phelps County aroused his interest in irrigation. Meetings with farmers led to the formation of the Tri-County Supplementary Water Association in 1913, with McConaughy as its first president.
McConaughy went to Washington, D.C. and with the help of Senator George W. Norris and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, he obtained financial aid from the Bureau of Reclamation for an initial survey. It was not until years later, when the drought came to south central Nebraska, that $35 million was allotted for the Tri-County Project. The project would construct a dam on the North Platte River to irrigate land in Phelps, Kearney, and Adams counties.
McConaughy was one of the original members of the Tri-County board of directors and served on the board until l936. At the time of his death at Holdrege on April l3, 1941, McConaughy saw his dream, the construction of the Central Nebraska (Tri-County) Public Power and Irrigation Project, nearly completed. The dam near Ogallala was named for George P. Kingsley, while the reservoir it created was named Lake C.W. McConaughy. In addition to irrigation, the Tri-County Project has provided recreation and the generation of electricity.