After Year's Hiatus, Water Dispute Moves Forward In Courts

A controversial water dispute in Laramie County that got held up last year because of the pandemic will see its day in court June 9-11 in Cheyenne.

17 ranch families are pushing back on a permit application by three members of the Lerwick family to drill eight high-pressure wells north of Cheyenne. These wells would appropriate 1.6 billion gallons of ground water from the Ogallala Aquifer, a water source that's already gone dry in several other Western states.

Attorney Reba Epler owns a ranch in the area and said this case is crucial for establishing a more modern approach to water management in Wyoming.

"The old school use of water probably wouldn't meet the 21st-century definition of how truly precious groundwater is to us and how we need it to go into the future," Epler said. "Our kids need it, our grandkids need it, and those will be the people that suffer the most."

Read more: https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/natural-resources-energy/2021-06-01/after-years-hiatus-water-dispute-moves-forward-in-courts