Water Wars: Nobody on the BOCC
Knew of Custer Aug Plan?
CC Has Two Residents on Upper Ark Board and a Commish Rep

by Jackie Bubis
On March 14, 2019, all three Custer County Commissioners attended the Upper Arkansas Water Conservation District (UAWCD) Board meeting.
Commissioner Tom Flower read a letter asking the Upper Arkansas Water Conservation District Board to remove Custer County from the proposed water augmentation plan. His reason was that Custer County was blindsided by the application and that, during public meetings both board member Tim Canterbury and Chairman Senderhauf expressed that, if Custer County wanted out of the plan, they would do that.
Mr. Senderhauf took the floor and pointed out that the Blue Line Expansion plan was indeed discussed at many meetings at which Mr. Flower was present. Ex-officio members of the Upper Ark Board are expected to take their reports from these meetings back to their respective boards. “It isn’t anything that hasn’t been out front.” All meetings are open to the public.
(Peporter’ s  Note: After continued assertions by the BOCC that the UAWCD filed the Blue Line Water Augmentation plan behind their backs, the Sentinel investigated meeting attendence and Blue Line discussion a the UAWCD meetings. A summation of our findings are on page 5 of this edition.)
He stated unequivocally that the Upper Ark is not looking to buy water and sell it out of the district and, in fact, cannot do that by law. Their duty is to help preserve and conserve the water through good management. He appreciates Commissioner Canda’s suggestion that citizens from Custer County meet with Upper Ark on a continuing basis to keep communication open.
Commissioner Canda expressed that he wants a good plan, “the right plan” but doesn’t think that is the plan currently proposed. He stressed the need in Custer County for water storage. He seeks to build a better relationship with Upper Ark to assure dialogue and hopes that, in the future, the water experts from Upper Ark will come to the Valley to educate the citizens on water.
Mr. Senderhauf suggested that Custer County people meet with the Augmentation Blue Line Expansion Committee.
Board member Bill Donley made a motion to withdraw Custer County from the plan which died for a lack of second.
Board member Greg Felt, also a Chaffee County Commissioner, expressed that he felt it would be a mistake, at this point, for Custer County to completely leave the table. He urged that during the time the court looks at this plan, there could be some other options explored that might better.
During a discussion regarding board members and conflict of interest, it was brought up that Bill Donley, one of Custer County’s representatives on the board, also sits on another board that is against the water augmentation plan. Attorney Burgemeister called this case a “close call” in the context of litigation, though everyone on the board knows Donley’s dual role. He also stated that whether Donley could participate in an executive session regarding the Blue Line issues was the “million dollar question” and recommended the board put a policy in place. The discussion also included realtors like several of the board members (i.e. Bob Senderhauf) that might have a conflict of interest on issues like this. Burgemeister said the statute uses the words “directly and substantially” when describing financial benefits from actions of the board. Because of this wording, he felt it was a stretch to say that a realtor, or a rancher for that matter would benefit substantially enough to be of concern. “Everyone in the county will benefit,” he said.
At the end of the meeting, Commissioner Canda discussed how Custer County and the Upper Ark can work together as a team. He mentioned aging ranchers with no heirs selling water rights, no real storage in the county and the possibilities of drying up the county. He urged finding ways to work together to keep water in the county longer, to help the citizens of Custer County get comfortable with water augmentation, and to fight the cities that want the water.
Commissioner Printz stated that he isn’t as team oriented as his fellow commissioner. He argued that this water augmentation plan was done “behind our backs and without consulting our ranchers.” He feels that Upper Ark has “already won the game.” He reminded Attorney Burgemeister that, according to Custer County zoning, if Mr. Senderhauf wants to put in a subdivision that is within the blue line in Custer County, he certainly would have a conflict of interest. He stated that his constituents insist that Printz put a stop to this and that he agrees that there needs to be trust re-established. He also questioned the truthfulness of the Upper Ark board with regards their statement that they have Custer County’s best interests in mind. He reiterated that, when he asked Mr. Flower if he knew this water aug plan was happening, Mr. Flower said he didn’t – that he knew they were talking about a blue line and augmentation but didn’t know that Custer County was within that area. Mr. Donley told Printz that, though he was part of discussions, he didn’t know the plan had been filed. “If Custer County feels that you are acting in Custer County’s interests, I think you’ll get buy in. Until that happens, we have a serious, serious problem.”

NOTE: UAWCD has also released a set of articles which the Sentinel published. To view on UAWCD site, goto https://www.uawcd.com/local-water-news