Water pipelines

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

Federal funding for Western water projects includes $22 million for Mni Wiconi

BY: - April 5, 2023

The Biden administration will send $585 million to water projects in 11 Western states, Interior Department officials said Wednesday. The funding, provided in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, will go toward 83 projects in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, California, North Dakota and Washington. The law provided $8.3 billion for […]

State Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, testifies on a bill during a legislative committee hearing Feb. 24, 2023, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

$50 million water legislation falls two votes short on final day

BY: - March 10, 2023

Amid all the excitement over the passage of a sales-tax reduction on the final day of regular legislative business Thursday, a bill to devote $50 million of federal money to water projects quietly died. Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, had hoped her water legislation, Senate Bill 156, would pass before legislators left the Capitol. They […]

State Sen. Helene Duhamel, R-Rapid City, testifies on a bill during a legislative committee hearing Feb. 24, 2023, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Budget committee approves $100 million of federal money for water projects

BY: - February 24, 2023

PIERRE – A bill that would allocate $100 million of federal money for water projects in South Dakota has passed the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee.  In March 2021, Congress passed and the president signed the American Rescue Plan Act, which provided $1.9 trillion in economic relief to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic around […]

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, […]