NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — South Hutchinson City Manager Joseph Turner knows that his city's water needs are a major issue going forward.
"It creates challenges," Turner said. "The long story short on that is that we use about 90% of our annual water allotment each year. Obviously, the lion's share of our usage is coming from a major industrial customer, Tyson Foods. That creates some challenges. There are a lot of benefits of having a large employer like that in your community, but that also creates a lot of challenges and one of the challenges we're facing is that we're bumping up toward our water allotment limit.
The percentage they have left, they are working to get access to.
"We did perfect our first water files, I think, in modern history of the community," Turner said. "We perfected another well, another water file in 2022. We're going to file that here soon to get that taken care of and then we're going to perfect our last water file in 2023. Exciting times in terms of getting things done and on track."
A reminder that perfecting a water file means actually using the water and showing how it is going to be used, for a city with South Hutchinson's demand, that is not a challenge.
However, if the city wants to continue to encourage development to its south, particularly in a new industrial park that the Hutchinson and Reno County Chamber wants to create, they will have to find other water somewhere. The City of Hutchinson has discussed having a study done to see if they can be that supplier or not.
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