Lewis & Clark water system secures future-use permit

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A wholesale provider of water for southeastern South Dakota has a significant expansion in the works.

Lewis & Clark Regional Water System can now officially start to move forward, after receiving a green light on Wednesday from state officials.

The South Dakota Water Management Board approved a future-use application from Lewis & Clark for the raw supply needed.

The plan calls for upgrading the system’s capacity to 60 million gallons daily from the current 44.19 million.

The permit reserves for Lewis & Clark up to 19,121 acre-feet of groundwater annually from the Elk Point unit of the Missouri aquifer.

The area designated in the future-use permit is approximately three miles southwest of Vermillion. The Lewis & Clark treatment plant is north of Vermillion on SD19.

The system serves twenty public water systems located in Turner, Lincoln, Minnehaha, Clay, McCook, Union, and Lake counties in South Dakota, along with Lyon, Sioux, Osceola,
and O’Brien counties in Iowa and Rock and Nobles counties in Minnesota.

Lewis & Clark filed its application for the future-use permit last year with the state Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. South Dakota law requires that most applications for more than 10,000 acre-feet receive approval from the Legislature before the Water Management Board can give formal consideration.

The state report noted that the aquifer is gradually moving deeper at the same time that the neighboring Missouri River gets deeper and wider.

Legislators gave their OK during the 2024 session. The vote split largely along party lines, with Republicans supporting the resolution, while Democrats opposed it because there hadn’t been consultation with tribal governments.

During the House debate, Republican Rep. Tony Venhuizen said it had been 30 years since the Legislature had looked at a future-use permit.

Democratic Rep. Peri Pourier , a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, asked whether all of the nine tribal nations had been consulted. Venhuizen said no direct notice was provided specifically to tribes, but the application notice was published in newspapers and no one had opposed it.

“The tribes have extensive water rights on the Missouri River,” Pourier said. She said tribal governments lack funding for water projects and the federal government hasn’t provided the necessary money. “We do have to come together on many issues.”

Republican Rep. Tamara St. John , a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, said the process calls for tribes to be consulted at the federal level through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the Missouri River.

On Wednesday, no one representing a tribal government asked to be recognized, and there was no opposition.

Lewis & Clark executive director Troy Larson told the state board that demand for water in recent years has been greater than expected.

“We are pleased with the strong support from the Legislature,” Larson said. “The reason we need this water has to do with an expansion of our system.”

A formal application to use the additional water still needs to be made and approved by the state board.

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