The bond issue passed with substantial backing from the citizenry, which recognized the desperate need for the expansion. A total issue of $11,601,530 was supported, with $9,770,330 for water extensions and the remainder for sewer extensions. City officials, according to the Eagle's report, saw the success of the vote as a "green light from the taxpayers to the city administration to go ahead with some long-range planning instead of the piecemeal planning of recent years." (Eagle, 11/5/52). Mayor Russell F. Jump saw it as a way to prepare an integrated plan for future development. Sewer expansion could be timed to coincide with adequate water supplies and sewer facilities to handle increased loads, including the construction of a proposed west side sewer. Even with all of the preparation, implementation would take time.

Hess said that much of the preliminary work had been done and engineers would immediately begin working on plans and specifications for the pipeline; however, it would be 1953 before bids were let. The materials would not arrive before June, the time of the peak water use, and extra water could not be supplied before 1954. Additionally, the sale of the first parcel of bonds would not be until the spring of 1953, according to City Auditor Ralph Wulz, when the market would be stronger. Nevertheless, prospects were encouraging. Wulz had received a telegram from The Bond Buyer, a journal circulated among all financial houses in the country, asking him to wire full coverage of the results of the bond issue vote.

In addition to the pipeline, the city also planned a three million dollar water purification building, which was outlined on November 10. It was to be located at the west end of the existing plant, extending north-south, making an 'L' shape of the two buildings. The total $11 million issue was expected to pay for the additional water supply sufficient to meet the needs of the city until 1964.

Even while these plans were discussed, other factors intervened to force the city's hand. Consumption continued to skyrocket, with usage running 22 percent higher than the year before. And in 1952 a drought began in Kansas which would last for several years. As it became more critical, the city pumped water through an oil pipeline to gain a short-term supply, sharing it with adjoining towns such as El Dorado, which suffered worse. All of these factors contributed to a major political confrontation which would have profound and long-lasting implications. The drought, combined with the pumping, drew down the water table in the Equus Beds, hurting the farmers. Their livelihood threatened, the farmers began a fight, which would last for years and influence the direction the city would take in finding an adequate water source.

The entire process over the next few years included a multitude of actors intertwined in a complex intergovernmental mix of decisions and actions. Harry Corbin wrote a doctoral dissertation for the University of Chicago on the period in 1972, and A.E. Howse collected over 10,000 items for files, noted in fourteen volumes of data detailing the history of the city's water project. Thus, information abounds on this period.

With the passage of the bonds on November 4,1952, the city intended to add to its water treatment plant and extend the water supply system. This included a 66-inch water main from the filter plant to the Equus Beds in Harvey County and a 42-inch line to cross connect with the 48-inch line. Black and Veatch prepared the plans and specifications, and contracts were awarded in January, 1953, for $4.5 million. In addition, 20 new water supply wells were planned with 22 five-acre well sites acquired.

With the implementation of this plan, trouble for Wichita was just beginning. On April 24, 1953, the City Commission passed a resolution directing Black and Veatch to prepare and file a survey of the necessary rights-of-way in Sedgwick County. The firm finished the task by May 5 and the City Commission approved the descriptions by ordinance on June 9, instructing City Attorney Fred Aley to acquire the tracts through