When the Sitka Assembly meets tonight (1-14-25), it will consider whether to sell water rights to a company out of Florida.

Global Hydration LLC wants to pay the city $10,000 dollars for the right to purchase water from Blue Lake, plus more money down the road if the company makes good on its promise to buy the water.

The city has state permits to sell 9.5 billion gallons of untreated water annually. According to a memo from Gary Paxton Industrial Park director Garry White, that’s just under 9 percent of the annual rainfall into Blue Lake. Global Hydration isn’t the first company to approach Sitka for water rights. Currently the city has agreements with two other companies– Eckert Fine Beverages and Arctic Blue Waters. But accessing the water isn’t easy, in part because the city’s system to deliver raw water is no longer operational. In Global Hydration’s contract, the company would be responsible for developing a plan to collect water from the dam, including designing and constructing the infrastructure it would need to make that possible.

In other business, the assembly will review its 2025 legislative priorities, and discuss lease terms for the proposed Sitka Community Garden on Jarvis Street.

The Sitka Assembly meets at 6 p.m. tonight. Raven News will broadcast the meeting live, following Alaska News Nightly.