By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

RIVERTON, Kan. — Negotiations continued this week in an effort to get Cherokee County rural water districts on board with a wholesale water district seeking federal stimulus money.

Public Wholesale Water District No. 19 on Spring River has been discussed for the past 14 years. The project appeared dead until the federal stimulus was approved, making federal money available for such projects.

The project calls for an $11.4 million water-treatment plant on a 12-acre site where Shawnee Creek enters Spring River near Riverton.

John Epler, chairman of the wholesale water district, said salt in groundwater in western Kansas eventually will reach eastern Kansas, making local wells unusable. The rural water districts in Cherokee County depend on the groundwater wells.

Holdouts

Epler said Wednesday that four rural water districts in the county and the city of Columbus have signed on with the project. Holdouts are Rural Water District No. 4, in the northeast part of the county, and Rural Water District No. 2, between Riverton and Crestline.

Epler said he would make another attempt to persuade the holdouts to join.

“They’ve got to understand the opportunity they’re letting pass by,” he said. “This is maybe the last, best opportunity to make this work.”

J.W. Stephenson, operator and manager for Rural Water District No. 2, said the district had been in talks with Baxter Springs about buying its water, when the wholesale district presented itself. He said the rural district continued to pursue an agreement with Baxter Springs.

“We’re just five miles from Baxter. It just seems more economically feasible to buy from them,” Stephenson said. He said the 40-year commitment sought by the wholesale district also is troubling to residents of the district.

Baxter Springs City Councilman Larry Warner, chairman of the Baxter Springs Water Committee, confirmed that the city was negotiating with the rural water district on an agreement to buy water from the city.

Epler had sought commitments from the rural water districts by April 1. The wholesale water district is seeking a 40-year commitment from member districts. In turn, the member districts would have a seat on the board of the wholesale district, and water customers would receive water at a cost of $5 or less per 1,000 gallons. Board members would have a vote in deciding future rate increases.

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