Grant helps reservation secure water supply
Posted: Monday, August 29, 2005
SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- An Indian reservation in north central South Dakota will be able to sidestep a water-supply emergency because money is in place to pay for a better delivery system from the Missouri River.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe said a $14.6 million plan can proceed to move the intake source for the Mni Waste water system, which serves 14,000 people northwest of Pierre.
Silt building up in the Cheyenne River has threatened to plug the water system's current intake, and years of drought have jeopardized the flow.
The intake will move from the Cheyenne east and north to Lake Oahe, where it will have a cleaner and more reliable source near the main channel of the Missouri.
The final $800,000 to cover the cost arrived in a grant the South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources approved Tuesday.
Mni Waste (pronounced "minny wash-tee" and meaning "good water" in Lakota) reaches Dewey, Ziebach and Meade counties to serve residents on the Cheyenne River Reservation and several towns, including Faith, Eagle Butte, Dupree and Isabel.
"This is incredibly important," tribal attorney Rebecca Kidder said from Eagle Butte.
"The Mni Waste is at risk of failing by next August because the water intake is silting in and the water level is so low."
The state previously gave $100,000 to the project, which goes with $1 million from the Indian Health Service and nearly $3 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kidder said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is paying $8.5 million.
"This is really the only water source for a lot of those people," said David Templeton, director of the division of financial and technical assistance for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
"This project will be ready to operate next August if water levels continue to drop."
The Cheyenne flows into the Missouri at Lake Oahe.
The lake, like the Cheyenne, is low on water, but the intake will be deeper to guarantee a steady supply.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe said a $14.6 million plan can proceed to move the intake source for the Mni Waste water system, which serves 14,000 people northwest of Pierre.
Silt building up in the Cheyenne River has threatened to plug the water system's current intake, and years of drought have jeopardized the flow.
The intake will move from the Cheyenne east and north to Lake Oahe, where it will have a cleaner and more reliable source near the main channel of the Missouri.
The final $800,000 to cover the cost arrived in a grant the South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources approved Tuesday.
Mni Waste (pronounced "minny wash-tee" and meaning "good water" in Lakota) reaches Dewey, Ziebach and Meade counties to serve residents on the Cheyenne River Reservation and several towns, including Faith, Eagle Butte, Dupree and Isabel.
"This is incredibly important," tribal attorney Rebecca Kidder said from Eagle Butte.
"The Mni Waste is at risk of failing by next August because the water intake is silting in and the water level is so low."
The state previously gave $100,000 to the project, which goes with $1 million from the Indian Health Service and nearly $3 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kidder said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is paying $8.5 million.
"This is really the only water source for a lot of those people," said David Templeton, director of the division of financial and technical assistance for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
"This project will be ready to operate next August if water levels continue to drop."
The Cheyenne flows into the Missouri at Lake Oahe.
The lake, like the Cheyenne, is low on water, but the intake will be deeper to guarantee a steady supply.
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