The new Water for Food exhibit is open at the Visitor and Water Interpretive Center at Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area (SRA) near Ogallala.

“Visitors to the new exhibit will understand how advances in science and technology, as well as legislative policy, have shaped dry-land and irrigated agriculture in an effort to find sustainability between feeding the world and conserving water for future generations,” said Colby Johnson, Lake McConaughy SRA superintendent.

The Center, built in 1999, is an educational facility dedicated to expanding the knowledge of and appreciation for the Platte River Basin and the High Plains Aquifer. The Water Interpretive Center was destroyed by a fire on May 22, 2007. Through the work of many, displays have been rebuilt one at a time. The new exhibit, sponsored by the University of Nebraska, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Water for Food Initiative, features a technologically advanced touch-screen display, which is backed by a wall-mounted graphic mural. “The Water for Food Initiative at the University of Nebraska did a fabulous job creating this interactive exhibit,” said Roger Kuhn, parks administrator for Game and Parks.

Entry to the Visitor and Water Interpretive Center is free, but a park entry permit is required for each vehicle entering the SRA. The Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday during the summer.

The Water for Food project is a partnership among the Nebraska Water Center Foundation, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District and University of Nebraska and the Nebraska Public Power District.

The opening of the Water for Food exhibit marks the completion of the reconstruction of the Visitor and Water Interpretive Center following the fire.