Let the good times flow

by Dale Bohren
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 11:53 AM MDT

The Casper City Council and Casper businessman Neil McMurry deserve your applause.

In May, the council made a deal with McMurry to purchase an 1889 right to 2,800 acre feet of water. This is a very senior right to about 913 million gallons of water that was filed before Wyoming became a state. For Casper, this is a really big deal.

We are used to turning on a faucet and using as much water as we want. But Casper has always been at risk to dry out as downstream users with more senior rights call for their water.

In drier years, I remember water restrictions as early as April that continued through August. At our current size, this water right equates to about an average month’s consumption for the entire city, which will help us avoid future water restrictions.

Historically, the City has purchased water from the Bureau of Reclamation as needed. The BuRec has a use it or lose it policy. So if Casper purchased water for its citizens and it turned out to be a wet season, too bad; we paid for the water anyhow.

This purchase eliminates that gamble of whether or not we should buy water every year. It’s rumored that the BuRec is running out of stored water to sell making this purchase very timely.

Given that no economic growth can occur without water, this deal may well be a factor in future opportunities for our community. The acquisition of these territorial water rights are simply good stewardship of city assets -- not only for today, but for future generations.

The water comes from the Rock Creek Reservoir near Atlantic City. The reservoir was manmade by U.S. Steel for use in its mining operations, which closed in 1983.

The City’s purchase includes the dam, which it will own and operate. The City did not choose to purchase recreational rights or land use around the lake.

The water in Rock Creek flows from the Wind River territory and into the Sweetwater River, where it empties into the North Platte River above Pathfinder and eventually flows to Casper.

The City will pay McMurry in the neighborhood of $4.2 million for the water, depending on the outcome of a five-year conveyance study to determine how much water is lost to seepage and evaporation along the way.

Casper City Manager Tom Forslund told me the market value of a senior water right such as this easily could be nearly twice that amount. He went so far as to say McMurry’s low price was “a major contribution to the community.”

It is a profound contribution, one that will benefit not only you and me, but our grandchildren’s grandchildren. And the opportunity has come at a time when the City actually has the money to seal the deal.

So raise your water glasses to thank Neil McMurry for proposing the deal and to applaud the City Council for taking it. Cheers!

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