Hays is holding the state’s feet to the fire on a promise to approve by March 1 the city’s request to pipe water from Edwards County.
The state’s Division of Water Resources agreed last Friday to deliver a needed Master Order after years of delay on the water project, said Hays Mayor Henry Schwaller IV, speaking at a news conference Tuesday morning at the Hays Welcome Center, 2700 Vine.
“We’re looking forward to receiving the Master Order by next Friday (March 1),” Schwaller said. “And if not, we’ll turn up the heat.”
The city has worked 20 years on the project to pipe water from the 7,000-acre R9 ranch in Edwards County. Hays bought the ranch in 1994 as a future source of city water. Hays filed its application four years ago, working through the state’s lengthy process.
“It’s important to the counties of Russell, Rush and Ellis, that we have this water,” Schwaller said. “We are a $2 billion 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.”
(Read more: News – The Hays Daily News)