NKAO Launches SCADA State-of-the-Art System

Written by: NKAO Staff

New Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for Nebraska-Kansas Area Office.
New Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for Nebraska-Kansas Area Office.

The Nebraska-Kansas Area Office (NKAO) located in McCook, Nebraska, is in the process of replacing its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.

The new system will incorporate state-of-the-art Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) driven Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) at the dams and a Windows Server 2012 based Master Station computer system at the Main Office.

The SCADA system uses a telephone-based multi-protocol label switching wide-area network to collect data and provide control of dam features.

Scipar, Inc. out of Buffalo, New York, is the lead contractor for the new system. Installation of the RTUs began in late April utilizing a local contractor.

NKAO provides maintenance, operational jurisdiction and control for 16 dams and reservoirs located in Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.

These reservoirs, together with nine diversion dams, nine pumping plants, and 20 canal systems, serve approximately 269,745 acres of project lands in Nebraska and Kansas.

In addition to irrigation and municipal water, these features serve flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife purposes.

NKAO has direct control of eleven dams in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, within the Kansas River Basin.

To ensure more efficient use of available personnel and to ensure timely delivery of irrigation water, the project installed a Programmable Master-Station Control (PMSC) system in the late 1970s.

This original system was replaced with a state-of-the-art Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system in 1993. This system was upgraded in 2008 with the Master Station and Man Machine Interface computers being replaced with newer models.

Many of the discrete RTU parts from this system are still in use and have reached the end of their useful life, with replacement parts difficult to find or obsolete, and new parts difficult to integrate.

Some of the SCADA equipment being replaced is over 20 years of age, well beyond the normal life expectancy of 10 years.

The SCADA system collects data and allows gate movements to be accomplished by a system controller at the headquarters in McCook for the following dams:

  • Bonny Dam near Burlington, Colo.;
  • Trenton Dam near Trenton, Neb.;
  • Enders Dam near Enders, Neb.;
  • Red Willow Dam near McCook, Neb.;
  • Medicine Cr. Dam near Cambridge, Neb.;
  • Norton Dam near Norton, Kan.;
  • Lovewell Dam near Webber, Kan.;
  • Webster Dam near Stockton, Kan.;
  • Kirwin Dam near Kirwin, Kan.;
  • Glen Elder Dam near Glen Elder, Kan.;
  • Cedar Bluff Dam near Hays Kan.

Water releases can be scheduled to arrive at the diversion points at the time it is required, rather than being dependent upon regular working hours.

The availability of a dependable control system also frees up the 10 Reclamation facilities superintendents to accomplish other duties since they will not be required to remain at remote locations to release water upon demand.

The SCADA system also allows for closer management of the water supplies and provides for better site security.

Final installation and testing of the new system is scheduled to be completed this summer with the system fully operational by August 2016.

Published on August 25, 2016