West Dakota Regional Water System
$50 million water legislation falls two votes short on final day
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 […]
Budget committee approves $100 million of federal money for water projects
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 […]
Will South Dakota be ready when other states come for our water?
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, […]
Western SD needs more water. Could a $2B Missouri River pipeline be a solution?
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 […]