A hearing is scheduled to begin next week in Wichita District Court, allowing a non-profit Central Kansas water advocacy group to present additional evidence why it opposes a plan by the cities of Hays and Russell to implement a water transfer from a location in Edwards County to Ellis County in the Smoky Hill river basin. The evidentiary hearing, set to begin July 19, results from a remand order by the Kansas Supreme Court in June that places the challenge issued by the Water Protection Association of Central Kansas back within the confines of the district court to consider supplemental additions to the court record. While the hearing continues, the Kansas Supreme Court retains jurisdiction over Water PACK’s appeal challenge. Currently, both communities are seeking to construct a 70-mile long pipeline that would transfer approximately 4,800 acre-feet of water per year for their municipal use. The measure invokes the Kansas Water Transfer Act that stipulates all desiring to transfer more than 2,000 acre feet are limited to a distance of 35 miles, unless granted state approval.
Source: Great Bend Tribune
