Casper officials pause $44M Alkali Creek Dam funding over land disputes

Casper, Wyo. State water development commissioners and legislators postponed a $44 million funding request Thursday for the Alkali Creek Dam and reservoir in northern Wyoming. The joint session paused the request from Nowood Watershed Improvement District without any dissent from the members present. The delay comes as the district seeks to complete a project now estimated at $103.4 million.

Officials asked the district and five area landowners to continue negotiating easement rights. The goal is to avoid the formal government process of eminent domain, also known as condemnation, for taking private property. The Select Water Committee and the Wyoming Water Development Commission set a deadline of Dec. 17 for the issue to return to their joint agenda. The district also asked for a time extension to finish the construction.

Michelle Hamilton of Hyattville provided emotional testimony during the meeting. She described the financial and personal stress her family has faced while the district seeks to condemn easements across her land. “The project has cost us financially, professionally, and personally,” Hamilton told the panels. She added that condemnation is “not the Wyoming way.”

One member of the water commission expressed concern that the project might divide local residents. “Our goal is not to tear communities apart,” the commissioner said. The meeting followed a Nov. 3 election in Big Horn and Washakie counties. That vote preserved a majority on the rural water board that favors using eminent domain against private property near Hyattville.

Ashley Coenen, district manager for the South Big Horn Conservation District in Greybull, confirmed the election results in an email. Incumbents Mitch Vigil and John Joyce retained their seats with 180 and 177 votes respectively. Todd Jones, who opposes the use of eminent domain against the five landowners, received the most votes with 182. He will replace Martin Mercer on the Nowood board.

Mercer, who sold the land for the dam and reservoir, received 158 votes and was unseated. Doug Hamilton and Tom Shirran, both targets of the eminent domain effort, received 152 and 151 votes respectively. The district offered the five landowners a total of $97,000 for right-of-way easements on 35 acres. Letters from the district stated that condemnation would proceed if the landowners did not accept the offers, which are subject to appraisal adjustments.

The affected landowners are all located upstream of the proposed reservoir. They questioned the project's benefits and the compensation offered for the rights of way. Some of the property targeted for condemnation would be covered by water in the reservoir. Other easements are needed for the enlargement and maintenance of the Anita Ditch, which feeds the reservoir. Critics noted that the state released funds and the district purchased the reservoir land before securing the necessary easements.

The proposed dam is an earth embankment 100 feet high and half a mile long. The resulting reservoir would hold 312 acres of water when full. It would provide late-season irrigation for about 33 families in eight out of 10 years. The reservoir would maintain a minimum 132-acre pool for recreation year-round. Backers argue the project would improve fisheries in local rivers and creeks.