Lewis & Clark Regional Water System to get record amount of funding
The Lewis & Clark Regional Water System will receive a record amount of federal funding, the system announced Thursday, giving it a major boost as it builds out water lines to outlying communities.
The system will receive $75.5 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That money is on top of the $22 million the system received in an appropriations bill passed by Congress.
Lewis & Clark has been a decades long project to bring treated Missouri River aquifer water to communities in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota and Iowa. The previous year for record funding came during the start of the first Obama administration, when Congress passed a trillion dollar stimulus package following the onset of the Great Recession. The system received $56.5 million that year, Executive Director Troy Larson said.
But what followed was seven consecutive years in which the system received less than $10 million a year, including one year of only $2 million. Progress on building out the system slowed, as projects were bundled for the sake of efficiency.
"It's incredibly inefficient when you only award three miles of pipeline at a time," Larson said.
Funding increased following the fiscal year 2017 budget.
The latest round of funding will complete 35 miles of service line to Madison, South Dakota, 17 miles of service line from Hull, Iowa to Sheldon, Iowa, additional meter buildings and a pump station near Hull.
The infrastructure funding bill included $1 billion for Lewis & Clark, one of seven authorized rural water projects. The system had an advantage as a "shovel ready" project because easements to install water lines had already been acquired.
Prior to the latest round of funding, the project needed about $145 million to complete its base system, an amount that increases each year with inflation. After this round of funding, only about $50 million will be needed to finish the project.
"The light is at the end of the tunnel, but I want to emphasize that this is not going to complete the project," Larson said.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Lewis & Clark water system to receive record amount of funding
