Tea, South Dakota — President Joe Biden has signed the FY22 Appropriations bill approved by Congress, which includes nearly $22-million for ongoing construction of the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System.
Lewis & Clark Executive Director Troy Laron says that’s great news for Lewis & Clark and an increase from the $17.5 million approved in FY21! The $21.914 million was from the congressionally directed spending requests made by Senators John Thune, Amy Klobuchar, Mike Rounds and Tina Smith. Strong support for increased funding was also provided by Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, as well as Representatives Dusty Johnson, Randy Feenstra, Michelle Fischbach and the late Jim Hagedorn. Larson says Lewis & Clark can’t thank these four senators enough for including Lewis & Clark in their congressional directed spending requests, as well as to the entire tristate congressional delegation for going to bat for L&C once again.
Separately, an announcement is expected yet this month on how much funding Lewis & Clark will receive for FY22 from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Funding from both sources is expected to allow Lewis & Clark to move forward with construction of the remaining 32 miles of pipeline for the Madison service line, the 17 miles of pipeline between Hull and Sheldon, as well as potentially meter buildings at Sheldon and Sibley, a pump station near Hull, a ground storage reservoir near Madison, acquiring easements for the Sibley service line and adding more lime drying beds at the water treatment plant.
Lewis & Clark RWS was incorporated in January 1990 and its congressional authorization was signed into law in July 2000. It is a non-profit wholesale provider of water to its 20 member cities and rural water systems in southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota. Water is currently being delivered to 15 members. Hull and Sioux Center will begin receiving water in late 2022 or early 2023. Madison, Sheldon and Sibley could potentially be connected at differing times in 2024 and 2025 depending on funding levels, according to Larson.
