HOISINGTON — The City of Hoisington will soon be sharing its water supply with a small portion of the Russell Water District.

As the final agenda item for the Hoisington City Council Monday evening, council members approved an agreement for the sale of water to Russell Water District No. 3 in Russell County. 

City Manager Jonathan Mitchell noted that the city had been approached by the water district a few months ago, as a supplemental source for water to the residents of Bunker Hill, in Russell County. The community has a population of just over 100 residents.

A draft agreement was prepared, which Mitchell presented to the council Monday.

In the agreement, “we’re not selling a well; we’re going to sell some water,” Mitchell told the council. “It’s not water rights, just some of our water supply.”

Mitchell said that the impetus for the discussion was that the water district was hoping to acquire Barton County Water District No. 1, which is currently a customer of the City of Hoisington. “They were also hoping to help the city of Bunker Hill.”

Negotiations were begun with the understanding that existing Hoisington customers were to be given preference on water availability, Mitchell noted.

“We also wanted to make sure our customers were aware that this is not the City of Russell; there aren’t a whole lot of customers we’re talking about. It’s a pretty well-defined set of customers,” Mitchell said.

The agreement will be sent to the water district to sign, and then returned to Hoisington for signatures from the Mayor and the City Clerk. Upon receipt, the agreement will be then reviewed one final time by the city attorney before signatures are applied, Mitchell said. 

Mitchell noted that he had reached out to the water district after the meeting. “I suspect that we will have it all signed by the end of the month.”

The agreement places no limitation on the quantity of water purchased. However, it is subject to termination by the City of Hoisington if it is found that existing water supplies would be impacted.

“We built in language that states that if there are circumstances, such as a drought, a change in legislation, or possible contamination, or any of these things, we can terminate the agreement,” Mitchell said.