Faced with one nagging enemy of its longtime effort to pipe water from Edwards County, the city of Hays is looking into the nonprofit status of the Water Protection Association of Central Kansas.
Known as WaterPACK for short, the group has been a thorn in the side of Hays and Russell for years. The group has tried to stop the cities from exercising their water rights on a 7,000-acre ranch the two bought in 1995 to ensure a future municipal water supply, according to City Manager Toby Dougherty.
“Throughout this whole process we have only had one active opponent of this project,” said Dougherty, speaking Thursday evening to the Hays City Commission at its regular meeting in City Hall.
(Read more: Newton Kansan)