Ketchum residents just hit the mother lode for water. In a single transaction, those at City Hall increased the water supply for residents by a total of 30 percent—no small feat. It's a deal in which everyone wins. It's a gain of enough water to take care of a city the size of Bellevue in a year, and it secures a future water supply for us all.
We just acquired water rights from the Weyyakin Ranch subdivision, and in return granted those homeowners city sewer services and use of reclaimed water from the Ketchum-Sun Valley Water Treatment Plant for grounds use as long as water is available. Their large green common areas will be irrigated; their streams will run all summer long. Weyyakin's decision to trade was a win for them, and a win for all the people who live here.
Weyyakin currently receives irrigation water from Trail Creek through the McCoy Ditch at about 3,100 gallons per minute (gpm). The five existing wells on the Ketchum municipal water system produce from 500 gpm to 2,000 gpm each. This new water right creates the ability for Ketchum to expand its water production capacity for future growth. With this additional water right we will now begin the mapping of a water master plan that will include water-rights management to ensure that Ketchum's future generations have enough of the precious resource.
The people you elect are continually faced with all kinds of challenges and decisions, but none are as important as ones involving the natural resources many take for granted. We are tasked with finding solutions for the future. This negotiated agreement makes sure that Ketchum has a future with enough water to serve its visitors, residents and business for a long, long time. That's something to think about when you turn the tap.
Randy Hall
Mayor of Ketchum
