The R9 Ranch applications and proposed water transfer by the cities of Hays and Russell are included in the Kansas Water Office 2020 annual report to the state legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly from Connie Owen, chair of the Kansas Water Authority (KWA).
Listed as a "Statewide Water Issue," the short history on page 30 begins with the 1995 purchase of the Edwards County property near Kinsley.
The process to request permission to convert irrigation water rights to municipal purposes and transfer the water to Hays/Russell began in 2015.
In March 2019, the Chief Engineer of the Department of Agriculture – Division of Water Resources contingently approved the change applications.
In May 2019, the Water Protection Association of Central Kansas (Water PACK) filed a request for judicial review on the contingent approval of the change application in Edwards County District Court where a legal ruling is still pending.
If the changes applications pass legal review, the next step would be to initiate a water transfer proceeding to determine if it would be in the state’s overall best interest to allow the transfer of the water. This would be a nine to 15-month process.
Hays and Russell have a cumulative water right authorization for irrigation use of approximately 7,700 acre-feet with a calculated consumptive use of approximately 6,750 acre-feet for conversion to municipal use.
The cities have agreed to limit the quantity to be diverted to 4,800 acre-feet average over 10 years for the long-term yield of the R9 Ranch.
The battle of junior water rights along Rattlesnake Creek impairing the senior water right of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Groundwater Management District 5 (GMD) is also reviewed as a statewide water use.
The R9 Ranch is located in GMD 5.
The entire report is available here.