The Sitka Assembly won’t sell water rights to a company in Florida, yet. At its regular meeting on Tuesday (1-14-25), the assembly postponed a vote on a contract with Global Hydration LLC, in order to give another company with water rights time to make good on its contract.

Global Hydration wants to pay the city $10,000 dollars for the right to purchase some of the 9.5 billion gallons of untreated water from Blue Lake that the city is permitted to export each year. Two other companies already own the rights to purchase some of that water. Gary Paxton Industrial Park Board Director Garry White said Arctic Blue Waters Alaska is first in line to buy, if it can deliver a plan to collect the water. 

“Arctic Blue Waters showed up to the GPIP meeting in December. They were presenting a conceptual loading plan of how they plan on loading water, and at that meeting, they suggested that they were going to exercise their right,” White said. “Yesterday, they sent the city and borough a letter stating that they would like to exercise that right. By sending that letter, it starts a clock where they now have 45 days to provide the contract and to pay the additional funding.” The additional funding is $100,000, plus $50,000 for each additional contract year.

If Arctic Blue Waters exercised first right of refusal in its contract, it would have the rights to nearly all of the Blue Lake water that’s available for sale, meaning the city couldn’t take on another contract. Assembly member Kevin Mosher clarified that’s only as long as exporting raw water doesn’t affect Sitka’s ability to generate hydroelectric power or access drinking water. Sitka has retained first rights to its drinking water and can suspend these contracts at any time. 

Assembly member Chris Ystad said the city is the closest it’s ever been to actually selling bulk water. 

“So I’m definitely excited to see the progress. You know, this is something that has always come up at the GPIP level, and this feels like with Arctic, it’s kind of the closest it’s ever been,” Ystad said. “So I kind of want to put my faith in them right now and and see what they can do with it, and give them the chance at least.”

The assembly unanimously voted to postpone a vote on the contract with the new company Global Hydration, until the first regular meeting in March.