Baxter Springs is to serve as the required backup for the wholesale water district. The Baxter Springs Water Committee discussed the wholesale water district during a meeting this week. The city would need to apply for additional water rights to serve as a backup.

“This thing honestly will help us out with our infrastructure, should it happen,” Warner said at the meeting.

The committee was seeking from the wholesale district a precise amount of water the district would require in order to set the city’s rate to the district and to draft a contract.

Epler on Wednesday repeated a figure discussed at Tuesday’s meeting. He said the wholesale district would use 10 million gallons of water a month. Of that amount, it would require 2.5 million gallons from Baxter Springs.

“We know they’re going to have to buy at least 25 percent of their water from us,” Warner said. “That number’s pretty critical.”

The committee also discussed the possibility of expanding the city’s service area to locations that may not be served by the town or by rural water districts. Committee members say an area east of town fits that description.

“It’s a time to look at your service area and see if you need to do any cleanup on that,” said Katie Tietsort, water commissioner with the Kansas Division of Water Resources.

Warner said at a March 10 meeting in Columbus that Baxter Springs could provide water to the wholesale district at a cost of $3.50 per 1,000 gallons. After Tuesday’s committee meeting, he said that figure was still valid, though the amount might be even less.

The wholesale district would need to build a distribution system, even if the district were to rely on Baxter Springs water, according to information from the Columbus meeting.

“We need to work with them,” Warner said.

Baxter Springs offer

Warner has said that Baxter Springs would be able and willing to produce all the water for the wholesale water district at the city water-treatment plant, but Epler said the wholesale district having its own plant would be useful.

Epler said that if the wholesale district had a treatment plant of its own, it could serve as a backup if Baxter Springs had a problem at its plant, and vice versa. He said it’s always useful to have a spare tractor or a spare car, in case one breaks down.

“We would like to build our own plant,” Epler said. “It’s necessary for the future water supply of the county.”

Both Epler and Warner said they won’t let the difference of opinion prevent them from working together on the project.