All interested persons are invited to provide input during two upcoming public hearings regarding a water augmentation plan that the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District is proposing to bring to the county.

Both public hearings will take place Wednesday, June 17. The first one is slated for 1 p.m. in the Custer County courthouse. A second public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. in the Wetmore fire station.

Spearheading the public hearings will be county commissioners Lynn Attebery, Jim Austin and Carole Custer.

Local UAWCD board members Bob Senderhauf and Bill Donley have also been invited to address the group and will be prepared to answer questions.

The purpose of the public hearings is to seek input from the community.

UAWCD officials gave an overview of the proposed water augmentation plan late last month.

At that time, UAWCD manager Terry Scanga and UAWCD engineer Ivan Walters indicated the plan would be submitted to water court by June 30.

New Colorado regulations regarding the filing of water cases goes into effect July 1.

The county commissioners would like to see a copy of the proposed plan prior to submission to water court.

During a recent commissioners’ meeting, chairman Lynn Attebery said it was his understanding that UAWCD officials would let the county commissioners see the proposed plan and give it a nod of approval prior to submitting it to water court.

That agreement, said Attebery, was made between then county commissioners Dale Hoag, Dick Downey and Larry Handy in 2003.

That was when the UAWCD was asked to bring a blanket water augmentation plan to the Valley in order to augment depleted wells in Custer County, as well as to address sources of water and water storage in the county.

The county commissioners have also indicated they would like the UAWCD to delay submitting the proposed plan to water court.

Also asking for a delay is the Concerned Citizens for Custer County organization or C-4 as it is commonly called.

In a letter to the commissioners dated June 4, C-4 chairman Joe Arbuckle urged the commissioners to request that the UAWCD not file the augmentation plan until after the new water court rules are in effect.

Arbuckle said the new rules are designed to make the water court process more open and transparent. Also, said Arbuckle, they require the applicant to provide more detail for the public to review than in the current process.

Additionally, said Arbuckle in the letter, if the plan is filed before July 1 it is unlikely the public or commissioners would get the details needed to make an informed decision regarding the impacts and merits of the plan.

Once the augmentation plan is submitted to water court, the estimated time frame for final approval is three to five years.

– Nora Drenner