Planning ahead for water projects: SD lawmaker wins endorsement for special fund
Big Bend Dam on the Missouri River in South Dakota. (Courtesy Army Corps of Engineers)
At the urging of a Rapid City lawmaker who said big water projects need special attention, a South Dakota legislative committee unanimously supported a bill Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre that would create a water infrastructure development fund.
The fund would hold state and federal grants for rural water projects, accruing interest over time. Lawmakers would appropriate money from the fund for future water projects that have received congressional authorization or are on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation rural water projects list.
Republican Sen. Helene Duhamel introduced Senate Bill 202. She told lawmakers the fund is a 'proactive, fiscally responsible' way to gradually save funds for future water projects.
South Dakotans in Congress request study of Missouri River pipeline to western part of state
The Western Dakota Regional Water System, which Duhamel used as an example, aims to deliver Missouri River water to communities, tribes and rural water systems in the western part of the state. The project has received some state and local funding, but has a projected cost in the billions, which would require federal funding. The system has requested a future-use permit for nearly 7 billion gallons of Missouri River water annually, which is pending in the Legislature.
To earn federal funding, state and local governments typically have to provide a match. Other water infrastructure projects in eastern South Dakota could also seek future funding. The state doesn't have a process in place to save for large-scale water projects, Duhamel said, like the Legislature has been doing for prison construction funding.
'We cannot afford to delay investments in water infrastructure,' Duhamel said. 'The cost of inaction will be far greater than the cost of preparation.'
A lobbyist representing WEB Water in north-central South Dakota said the bill requires amendments to ensure support from the water industry across the state. The state Department of Revenue opposed the bill, saying it would circumvent the existing state water planning process. The department awards between $10 million and $12 million to projects throughout the state annually, which Duhamel said is insufficient to properly fund infrastructure projects costing billions of dollars.
SB 202 would only create the fund and would not appropriate any money to it.
The bill now heads to the Senate.
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