The board of directors for the Round Mountain water and Sanitation District will hold a public hearing tonight, Thursday, Jan. 8, to consider leasing Johnson Place Ranch water to the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District.

The public hearing will be held in the community room at Cliff Lanes bowling center. While the RMW will convene at 6 p.m. to conduct regular business, the hearing will not commence until 6:30 p.m.

During the public hearing, attendees will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed water lease agreement.

RMW originally signed a letter of agreement with the UAWCD in late November 2008 to lease some 20-acre feet of RMW-owned Johnson Place Ranch south of Westcliffe.

However, that letter was scrapped after concerns were raised by Paul Snyder of the Concerned Citizens for Custer County organization, commonly known as C-4.

At that time, Snyder said the public had not had the opportunity to provide input on the agreement.

Snyder has also stated such an agreement could have a negative input on the future growth of the towns of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff.

In a letter sent to C-4 membership earlier this week, Snyder also addressed many other issues.

Those issues included the legality of RMW leasing its water outside its service area; the amount of excess water RMW has, if any; acceptable terms of an agreement should RMW lease the water and what would happen if RMW needed the water back before the lease expired; and why there is a need for augmentation water outside the RMW service area.

When the original letter of agreement was signed between RMW and the UAWCD, UAWCD manager Terry Scanga said the letter of agreement allowed the UAWCD to proceed in water court to bring a long-awaited water augmentation plan to the Valley.

RMW directors agreed citing the November letter was not a contract; just a letter of intent to allow the UAWCD to proceed with its proposed augmentation plan.

The Custer County commissioners asked the UAWCD to do just that in 2003 to augment depleted wells.

The UAWCD also tried to bring a water augmentation plan to the county in 1983 but were unable to do so because they could not secure local water rights.

Scanga and Valley real estate agent Bob Senderhauf, who also sits on the UAWCD board, have also stated other local sources of water have been secured to help bring a local augmentation plan to fruition.

Also representing Custer County on the Upper Ark board is Wetmore rancher Bill Donley.

Senderhauf and RMW board president Chris Haga have also said negotiations regarding RMW leasing water to the UAWCD have been in the works for several years.

It was even briefly discussed during previous C-4 meetings, said Senderhauf.

– Nora Drenner