By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Two members of the governing bodies of Hays and Russell were children in elementary and middle school in 1995 when the towns jointly purchased the R9 Ranch in Edwards County as a long-term water supply.
City officials are now concerned about the future of water in the area for their own young children.
"We're in a multi-generational battle that we started decades ago," said Mason Ruder, Hays vice-mayor.
City leadership from both towns met in Russell City Hall Wednesday evening for a comprehensive update on the R9 project.
The project aims to ensure water sustainability, addressing urgent needs created by current inadequate and drought-susceptible water sources for both cities.
The state Water Transfer Act must be triggered to allow the conveyance of water more than 70 miles across Kansas. It will be the first time it is enacted for such a long distance.
The towns' water rights are currently for irrigation. Another approval process will change them to municipal use.
Legal wrangling with WaterPACK (Water Protection Association of Central Kansas), the Edwards County Commission and the Edwards County Planning Commission, which oppose the pipeline, has been underway for almost 10 years.
"We haven't lost anything substantive in this. We've won at every step of the process," said Toby Dougherty, Hays city manager. "The opponents in this have succeeded in weaponizing the legal and judicial system against Hays and Russell."
To date, regulatory costs amount to $10 million. The overall project cost is estimated at $144.9 million.
Reports from Hays' John Braun, project manager, and Matt Gallagher from Burns McDonnell engineering indicate the pipeline design is wrapping up, and right-of-way permits are being sought.
"We're going to have a project that's ready to bid on early next year," Dougherty said.
"At that point, it's just a matter of waiting for the transfer application to get approved. We're waiting on some litigation to finalize."
Sandy Jacobs, Hays mayor, said, "We've done everything by the book, by the statute."
"We just have to be confident that the system is going to prevail and allow us to use our water we bought 30 years ago," Dougherty said.
"Drought is going to happen...so we want to get shovels turning as quickly as possible as soon as we get regulatory approval," he said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor recently removed Ellis and Russell counties from all drought declarations.
However, Hays remains an inch behind normal for the year-to-date, according to Thursday's official rainfall report from the K-State Agricultural Research Center.
Russell recently lost its surface water source and is in a Stage II water warning.
Both towns have aggressive water conservation plans in place.
"This is about sustainability and survival," said Alaina Cunningham, Hays city commissioner, "and without it, we don't survive."