By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Nearly four years ago, the cities of Hays and Russell filed applications with the state of Kansas requesting the transfer of water from their jointly-owned R9 Ranch in Edwards County to Hays in Ellis County.
They’re still waiting.
At the end of Thursday night’s Hays city commission meeting, Mayor Henry Schwaller read a brief historical statement about the project to acquire a long term water supply. He acknowledged “the process is long.”
The Water Transfer Act, which takes water from one water basin to another, has never been triggered in Kansas.
Schwaller said the city has had a good working relationship with the Division of Water Resources (DWR), part of the Department of Agriculture. DWR is the state agency that will issue the final Master Order to allow the use of the water.
“To make this relationship work out, Hays and Russell went so far as to reduce the amount of water, called consumptive yield, that we would use from the R9 Ranch, far below what the state statutes allow,” Schwaller said, “with the promise this would speed up the process of approval.
“Unfortunately, it has not.”
Schwaller said the cities “will continue to work over the next three months with our representatives in Topeka and state officials to make this project happen.”
Each of the other Hays commissioners chimed in with their support of Schwaller’s statement.
“It’s beyond time for the state to step up to the plate, cross the t’s, dot the i’s and finish this,” said Commissioner James Meier.
“It’s my personal opinion that we have been treated quite differently from anybody else who would have filed a change order application. Some of that is justified because we knew there would be a transfer process at the end of this, but the vast majority of it, quite unfairly.”
In Feb. 2018, during Meier’s tenure as mayor, he and City Manager Toby Dougherty met with then newly-elected governor Jeff Colyer in Topeka, after Meier complained publicly about Colyer not meeting with the city when he was in his home town of Hays on the day he was sworn into office.
The next month, Meier announced he had received a communication from the governor’s office indicating the Master Change Order should be finished in May, 2018.
Kansas now has a new governor, Laura Kelly and a new Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Beam.
“Very frustrating,” agreed Commissioner Ron Mellick. “We’ve been getting promises that haven’t been met.
“As a commission we’re going to start pushing a little harder. It’s not about playing nice. It’s about elected and appointed officials doing what they’re supposed to do.”
Sandy Jacobs is the shortest-serving city commissioner – two years – and said the water situation is the “only issue and frustration for me. It’s not been dealt with by me as long as it has by every other commissioner on this panel today.
“We’ve done everything we’re supposed to do,” Jacobs stressed. “We have a city manager that’s led us through the process that knows more about water and what’s going on in the state of Kansas than about anybody.
“It’s time we get it done.”
Vice-mayor Shaun Musil pointed out the water project is “not only for Hays, but our neighbors and western Kansas.
“We need western Kansas to grow and if we don’t get this soon, it’s going to hurt for a long time. I hope the mayor continues to push on this.”
The communities of Ellis, Victoria and La Crosse have supported the project and may become potential purchasers of the water in the future.
Following a public hearing in Greensburg last June, DWR Chief Engineer David Barfield began preparing the Master Order.
“The order is actually written,” Schwaller said after Thursday’s city commission meeting. “He is putting in the facts and bullet points he thinks are important that he got from that meeting before issuing it.”
According to Schwaller, the city was told the order would be completed before Christmas.
“There’ve been some friendly communications, some confusing communications. We do continue to stay in touch with the Division of Water Resources but we’re not gaining any ground.”
“Our communities in the region need the R9 Ranch in order to remain economically viable,” Schwaller said.
“This will be the largest project in our cities’ history and we are very concerned about the delay in issuing that Master Order.”
Schwaller added that he hopes to have some new information about the project status on Tuesday.
An archive of the city of Hays/R9 Ranch Water Right Changes and Water Transfer Application is available on the KDA/DWR website.