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City, water districts fail to reach agreement

By Staff | Mar 26, 2003

Although the city of Tonganoxie and two rural water districts appeared headed for a pact that would solve the city’s water problems, that agreement has faltered.

On Monday, the Tonganoxie City Council heard about problems with a three-way split of about 500 additional gallons of water a minute. The city and Rural Water Districts 6 and 9 are working on an agreement to split the additional water, which is coming from Bonner Springs.

In a meeting March 5, the city of Tonganoxie and Rural Water District 9 discussed a 38-38-24 configuration with District 6 taking the least amount.

But the District 6 representative had to take the issue to his board. And Monday night, District 6 chairman Mike Reischman told council members that his board still thought 24 percent was too high.

The city council suggested the city purchase some of District 6’s water, but District 9 chairman Doug Smith said he couldn’t commit to that possibility, without first talking with his board.

“If we can’t reach an agreement pretty quick, we’re looking at the option of using an outside mediator,” Smith said. “So you can kick that around.”

District 9 did have a board meeting Tuesday evening, but any decision reached did not meet The Mirror’s deadline.

Currently, of the 500 gallons a minute piped from Bonner Springs, the city uses 150 gallons per minute, District 9 is at 290 and District 6 uses 60.

District 6 is west of the city, while District 9 is north of Tonganoxie.

Representatives of the city, along with districts 6 and 9 will meet again at 6 p.m. April 7.

  • For more city news, see pages 10A and 11A.