Willard hears pitch to buy long-term Stockton Lake water allocation as officials weigh price and timing

Rodney Rogers, a representative of Southwest Missouri Water, told the Willard Board of Aldermen at their meeting that the group has secured Pentagon approval to reallocate storage at Stockton Lake for regional drinking water and industry use and is seeking member communities to contract for portions of that storage.

Rogers said the reallocation was approved by the assistant secretary of the Army in January and that the group is now negotiating contracts to reserve storage. “As of January, reallocation of storage in Stockton Lake for Southwest Missouri … was approved at the Pentagon,” Rogers said. He described the approval as the first step; the next steps are contract negotiations and member pass-through agreements so each city can pay for its share of the storage.

Why it matters: Rogers framed the reallocation as an insurance policy against long-term groundwater decline and rising industrial demand. He said regional planning is needed because groundwater in parts of the region is being drawn down and future shortfalls are likely. “Water is our future. If there’s no water, there is no future,” he told the aldermen.

Key details and cost options

- Project scope and timeline: Rogers described a multi‑decade effort that began with coalition studies in the early 2000s, a formal reallocation request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2007, Corps cost studies completed in 2020, and federal approvals in 2024–2025. He said the Corps’ studies showed a long-term regional gap in supply…