By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
This is Sandy Jacobs' eighth year serving on the Hays City Commission.
She expected by now to have opened the tap on the R-9 long-term water supply project for the cities of Hays and Russell.
It still hasn't happened.
"I thought that first year it'd all be said and done and we'd be cutting ribbons," Jacobs said.
The R-9 project in Edwards County remains the city's number one focus in 2025, said Jacobs and Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty in a recent Hays Post interview on KAYS radio.
Over the past few years, Hays and Russell have faced several litigations with Edwards County and the Water Protection Association of Central Kansas, known as WaterPACK.
Almost a year ago, an administrative judge ruled in favor of Hays' and Russell's R9 Ranch water transfer application. It would be the first such transfer in Kansas.
More recently, said Dougherty, there's been another positive court ruling for Hays and Russell.
The transfer application must be approved by a three-person hearing panel.
"The opponents in this case filed a motion for one of the panelists to recuse himself. They thought he was biased. ... The panel turned it down saying the chief engineer [of the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources] was not biased and they denied the motion.
"So the opponents filed in Riley County District Court and we had to have a hearing... The judge dismissed the case late last month.
"We're hoping the panel gets back on schedule and approves the order very quickly, within the next couple of months."
Project design is about 60% complete. Construction of the 66-mile pipeline will run from the cities of Hays and Russell's wellfield at the R9 in Edwards County to the Hays Smoky Hill River water wellfield south of Schoenchen.
Dougherty, Assistant City Manager Jarrod Kuckelman and Vice-Mayor Mason Ruder recently met with local representatives in Washington, D.C.
"Every single person we talked with said how prepared and sophisticated we were as a city for what we've done for this project. Researching things to help make it a reality without having to fully raise [water] rates to do it," Ruder said.
"That's a testament to city commissioners before us and to staff. ... I can't wait until we get that water up here. That'll be nice," he said.