By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The cities of Hays and Russell have been told a Final Master Order for the R9 Ranch water project will be completed by Friday, March 1.
If not, the cities will “turn up the heat,” and 40th District State Sen, Rick Billinger, R-Goodlandm plans to intervene, according to Hays Mayor Henry Schwaller.
The cities submitted applications to the state in June 2015 for development of the R9 Ranch in Edwards County as a long-term water supply for Hays and Russell.
In May 2018, the Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources released a draft master order approving an application to convert water use on the city-owned property from agricultural to municipal.
Following a public hearing in Greensburg in June, DWR Chief Engineer David Barfield began preparing the Final Master Order.
Hays Mayor Henry Schwaller updated the situation during a news conference Tuesday morning at the Hays Welcome Center after announcing last week the cities planned to increase pressure on the state to produce the order.
“We’ve had the input. The DWR has not released the document and there’s been considerable delay. We don’t know why,” he said.
Schwaller, along with Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty and Russell City Manager Jon Quinday, were in Topeka on Monday to visit with state officials about the plan status.
The trio met at the statehouse with newly elected Gov. Laura Kelly and Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers.
“We had a very productive meeting with the governor,” Schwaller said, “quick and engaging. We shared our concerns, where we are in the process and the purpose of it.”
Both Kelly and Rogers are familiar with the project and Kansas water law, having served previously in the Kansas Legislature.
The group also met with Sen. Billinger and the new secretary of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Brad Loveless, the former conservation director of Westar Energy in eastern Kansas.
According to Schwaller, the last communication with DWR said the Final Master Order would be ready in two weeks. That information came Friday, Feb. 15.
“Sen. Billinger told us if we don’t have the Final Master Order by next Friday, he will personally go over and meet with the chief engineer of the Division of Water Resources,” he said.
Schwaller said Loveless, an avid hunter and fisherman, was not aware of the agreement with KDWPT to turn the 7,000 acre ranch into a walk-in hunting area as it’s returned to native grass.
“Because he’s new to the job, he didn’t know about this. He’s very excited. Loveless has actually seen the ranch when a friend took him there,” he said.
Dougherty also attended Tuesday’s news conference, along with Hays Water Resources Dir. Jeff Crispin, Project Manager John Braun, Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood and Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Melissa Dixon.
“We’re going to keep the pressure on,” Schwaller added. “Commissioners are reaching out to other elected officials. We’re calling them. I’ll be sending letters.”
Hays employs a lobbyist for the R9 project, Sean Miller of Capitol Strategies LLC, who has been instructed to meet with the new Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Beam, Schwaller said. DWR, which issues the master orders, reports to the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
The cities of Hays and Russell are co-owners of the R9 Ranch. It was purchased in 1994 as a possible long-term solution to water needs for the towns. Hays owns 82 percent of the ranch; Russell owns 18 percent.
There was an “outcry” in Edwards County at first about “outsiders coming in to buy water that was theirs,” Schwaller said. He believes most of that has died down.
“We’ve also agreed to a substantial amount of reduction in the water we would take from the ranch.”
When operating as a ranch/farm, nearly all of the R9’s 7,800 acre-feet of water rights were being used in irrigation. Hays and Russell have voluntarily agreed to pump only 4,800 acre-feet per year — a 30 percent reduction — which is what modeling by project engineer Black and Veatch has determined is a sustainable yield that is naturally replenished.
“By not pumping the full water right for irrigation to farm, we’ve already done all our neighbors a huge benefit. Water will still be running in the aquifer. We’re not going to take our full water right,” explained Schwaller.
The wellfield is being reconfigured to optimally locate each water well and reduce the total number of wells. There are also now monitoring wells on the property.
“There are a couple of owners in the area that are concerned this might affect their water rights. It will not. They can still pump their full water rights that they’ve been doing.
“What we’ve been doing will sustain the entire aquifer in the area. The Groundwater Management District (GMD) No. 5 has not been concerned. We have endorsement from the Kansas Livestock Association. The Kansas Farm Bureau has been neutral in the matter.”
Schwaller noted some recent objections have been raised by an outside group with a Utah engineer, but dismisses the research as having “no basis in Kansas water law. The outside concerns are out of left field and not scientific.”
The water would be moved from the Arkansas River Basin to the Smoky Hill River Basin in the Hays wellfield at Schoenchen. That would trigger the Kansas Water Transfer Act for the first time because the proposal is to move 2,000 acre-feet of water or more per year a distance of 35 miles or more from water basin to another.
The R9 Ranch is south of Kinsley and 78 miles from Hays. Ellis, Victoria and La Crosse have expressed interest in purchasing some of the water for municipal use.
By state law, once the Final Master Order is issued, the Water Transfer Act will be triggered. The act still requires approval within 18 months from a three-person panel consisting of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary or the KDHE Director of the Division of Environment, the head of the Kansas Water Office, and the chief engineer of the KDA/DWR.
Schwaller describes the relationship between Hays and Russell and DWR Chief Engineer Barfield as “very good and productive.”
“We’ve gotten along well. … I think he just wants to do the best job and we appreciate that. We also appreciate that sometimes there’s a difference between getting something done and flourishes. We don’t need flourishes. This is just a very simple document. He can sign it any time.”
The change applications from agricultural use to municipal use were filed in June 2015. The cities began the regulatory process in February 2014.
Schwaller said the cities would not make any concessions about the amount of water to be pumped.
“If we don’t have a Final Master Order in two weeks, there are other steps we can take, but we don’t want to go down that path. They would be very harsh and affect everyone in that basin.
“It’s important for the counties of Ellis, Russell and Rush that we have this water,” Schwaller stressed. “We are a $2 billion annual economy and an important part of northwest Kansas. If we do not have this water, we cannot continue to move forward.
“We’ve waited long enough and we’re ready to move.”
Hays voters approved a half-cent sales tax in 1998 dedicated to financing the $80 million project.
