Would you like to go camping on a lakefront property? Then build yourself a lake next door.
That statement might sound overly simplistic, but today we’ll learn about a reservoir that was recently constructed in southwest Kansas. It is serving the outdoor recreation needs of thousands of people in Kansas and beyond.
Last week we met the Jantz family of MJE LLC, which is the company that constructed this project known as HorseThief Reservoir. Audrey Rupp is district manager for HorseThief Reservoir. Gene Webb is HorseThief’s historian.
Audrey grew up at Tribune, studied Tourism and Hospitality at Fort Hays State University and became manager at HorseThief in November 2021. Gene Webb is a lifelong resident of Hodgeman County where the lake is located.
“I’ve hunted and fished in this area since I was 12 years old,” Gene said. “Now I’m 85.”
Gene served on the board of the HorseThief Reservoir Benefit District for many years. “The Corps of Engineers had been interested in the possibility of a dam here back in the 1930s,” Gene said.
In tight budget climates, how would such a project get accomplished? In more recent years, the Pawnee watershed district studied the issue and proposed going to the state to create a tax benefit district that could generate resources for reservoir construction.
“I was on an advisory committee to see if people were willing to support a sales tax to build the lake,” Gene said. In 2004, the proposal was put on the ballot in Hodgeman, Ford, Gray and Finney counties. The proposal passed by more than a 2-1 margin. The Pawnee Watershed District owns the land, which is leased to the HorseThief Benefit District. Continue reading “Audrey Rupp, HorseThief Reservoir”
