Missouri River

Mike Hamsa, a fishing guide from Yutan, Nebraska, holds a walleye he caught while fishing on Lewis and Clark Lake State Recreation Area in Knox County. (Eric Fowler/NEBRASKAland Magazine, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)

Biologists search for clues on why fish population has declined in Lewis & Clark Lake after 2011 flood

BY: - July 11, 2023

LINCOLN, Nebraska — Nebraska and South Dakota fisheries biologists are studying why fish populations have declined in popular Lewis & Clark Lake since the flooding of 2011. Populations of emerald shiners — the primary forage fish in the Missouri River reservoir — haven’t recovered, and neither have walleye, despite more than 100 million fry and […]

The Palmer Gulch Fire burns in October 2022 in the Black Hills. (Courtesy of Black Hills National Forest)

How climate change threatens South Dakota’s protected landscapes

BY: - May 30, 2023

Swaths of South Dakota water, grasslands and forests are under federal protection, but climate change recognizes no boundaries.  Scientists say South Dakota’s protected lands are vulnerable to pest infestation, wildfire, drought, flooding and more extreme weather in the decades to come. That ranges from a wild stretch of the Missouri River to grasslands in central […]

A rendering of the proposed pumped storage project. (MRES and MidAmerican Energy)

Backers drop plan for massive energy storage project at Missouri River site

BY: - May 23, 2023

Backers of a multibillion-dollar proposal to build a giant reservoir for energy storage in rural south-central South Dakota said Tuesday they are no longer pursuing the project at that location. “Not due to the opposition. Due to the financial risk of the project,” said Tim Blodgett, vice president of member services and communications for Missouri […]

COMMENTARY
A section of Rapid Creek just west of Silver City in the Black Hills. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Tardiness in recognizing water needs could lead to ‘unacceptable consequences’

BY: - May 4, 2023

As recently as nine years ago, I thought Rapid City had enough water for decades to come. I got that idea from covering an event in 2014 where then-Mayor Sam Kooiker spoke. “Unlike many other cities in the West, Rapid City does not have a water supply problem,” he said, adding that the city of […]

COMMENTARY
Big Bend Dam on the Missouri River in South Dakota. (Courtesy Army Corps of Engineers)

Will South Dakota be ready when other states come for our water?

BY: - February 19, 2023

The massive volume of reservoirs on the Missouri River is one of the nation’s least-appreciated public resources, but that could change as Western states grow more desperate for water.  “They’re tapped out, and so logic tells you they have to go to the next plentiful resource, which ultimately is the Missouri River,” said Troy Larson, […]

Photo of the MIssouri River in Chamberlain South Dakota (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Western SD needs more water. Could a $2B Missouri River pipeline be a solution?

BY: - November 11, 2022

The western side of Pennington County doesn’t have enough water to last through an extended drought, according to a 2019 study by the South Dakota School of Mines. The region, which includes Rapid City, relies on ground and surface water to supply its city populations, commercial districts and agricultural needs. But given the increase in […]