City outlines long‑term plan for Monolith and Hart ranches, emphasizes water rights and infrastructure upgrades

The Laramie City Council met in a joint work session with the Ranch Advisory Commission on July 8 to review the history, current operations and a draft comprehensive plan for the Monolith and Hart (formerly Bath) ranch properties. City staff emphasized that preserving and exercising agricultural water rights remains the primary purpose for municipal ownership and that a phased, multi‑year approach will guide any future transfer of water to municipal use.

City water resources for Laramie come from two main sources, staff said: roughly 10 cubic feet per second diverted from the Laramie River (about 40% of average annual supply conveyed through the city’s water treatment plant at Woods Landing) and the remainder from wells and springs in the Casper Aquifer. Ben Levin, director of the city’s ranch program, told the council that the ranch purchases were driven by water rights considerations: “Again, the number 1 priority is protecting and exercising these water rights for that potential transfer to municipal use.”

The Monolith property was acquired by the city in 1981 for about $3,000,000 and carried senior water rights on the Dowlin Ditch. The Hart Ranch — purchased in 2022 using municipal bonds — added approximately 4,600 acres to the city portfolio of a larger ~8,200‑acre historic parcel; together the Dowlin Ditch carries roughly 36 cubic feet per second and the city holds roughly 31 cubic feet per second of that senior priority flow (staff described the total as “just over 31” cfs, equivalent to about 21 million gallons per day for a 32 cfs figure cited elsewhere in the presentation).

Because water rights…