City to purchase 4,600 acres for water rights

The city will pay Bath Land Company $7.5 million to add 10 cubic feet per second to the municipal water portfolio. The purchase gives the city greater access to the Laramie River.

The Laramie City Council approved a large land purchase during its meeting Tuesday, securing the water rights from said land and dramatically increasing the city’s available water supply.

The city will likely close the deal in June, following further inspections of the property.

Councilors were unanimous in their support for the purchase, and their excitement was palpable.

“This is a generational opportunity,” Mayor Paul Weaver said. “It’s going to go on a long time after any sitting member of this council has anything to do with the city of Laramie.”

The mayor added it would be a “severe error in judgment” not to approve the purchase.

“I don’t think a lot of municipalities anywhere in the United States find themselves in a position to be able to exercise this kind of decision,” Weaver said. “It is probably one of the best, if not the very best, investments that can be made for long-term planning for future growth. If you look around the west, you see how water drives development, impacts development, raises concerns about all aspects of development. The opportunity for the city to be able to do that type of long-range planning through this purchase is rare.”

With the 9-0 vote Tuesday, councilors bought 4,600 acres from the Bath Land Company for the price of $7.58 million. The Bath Ranch sits near Highway 230 southwest of Laramie. City Manager Janine Jordan said under Wyoming law, water rights travel with land ownership.

“So, we have to acquire the land in order to obtain the water,” she said.

The purchase adds 10 cubic feet per second to the city’s water portfolio, on top of the 20 cubic feet per second gained during the 1981 Monolith Ranch purchase. 

“Since the 1940s, the city has been acquiring the Dowlin Ditch surface irrigation water rights,” Jordan said. “The intention is to have access to Laramie River water that ultimately can be converted at a future point in time to municipal use, from the irrigation and agricultural use it has in place at this time.”

Between the Monolith and Bath Ranches, the city will control a full 98 percent of the water in the Dowlin Ditch, meaning it can draw even more water from the Laramie River for municipal use. The Laramie River currently provides about 40 percent of the city’s water right now, with the rest coming from the Casper Aquifer.

“As you know, water in the west is an incredibly valuable commodity, frankly, particularly for a growing city and a growing county,” Jordan said.

The city will pay for the land purchase with its enterprise fund for water — the money it raises from water rates. City staff said they would offset the money drawn from that account by relying on American Rescue Plan dollars for obligations usually covered by the water enterprise fund.

“Most of the money is coming out of our enterprise fund,” said Malea Brown, who runs the city’s accounting and finance office. “We’re going after more ARPA money. We looked at what we could defer or where we could get more money from ARPA so it’s offsetting some of the cost of this project, this purchase. We have a very sound financial plan.”

Councilor Erin O’Doherty said she doesn’t take the $7.5 million price tag lightly.

“This is a lot of money and I’m cheap so it’s painful,” she said. “But thinking of parting words from Senator (Mike) Enzi to the Wyoming Association of Municipalities two years ago, one of the things he was most proud of was protecting water rights for the city of Gillette. And he encouraged municipalities to try to protect their water. I think this is in line with that.”

The sale will go hand-in-hand with the Conservation Fund’s purchase of an adjacent 3,500 acres, also from the Bath Land Company.

“This is a cross-contingent contract wherein (the fund) would acquire a portion of the ranch ultimately, and the city having the remaining portion,” Jordan said. “This is a national organization, the leading conservation program in the state. They have worked in all 50 states. Here in Wyoming, they have 40 projects underway.”