Funding
To date, the WDRWS has benefitted from funding from a variety of sources.
Contributions have been made by the following local partners:
City of Box Elder, City of New Underwood, City of Rapid City, City of Spearfish, Elevate Rapid City, Meade County, Pennington County, Rapid Valley Sanitary District, South Dakota Community Foundation, West Dakota Water Development District, West River Water Development District
In April 2022, the WDRWS received $8M in grant funds through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). This award was first approved by the South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources and then appropriated by the Legislature. This funding is currently supporting preliminary planning efforts related to total water needs, preliminary pipeline routes, water treatment options, and potential intake siting. In March of 2023 and 2024, the Board of Water and Natural Resources awarded WDRWS $1M (each year) from the State Water Resource Management System (SWRMS) program for a total of $2M. These awards can be used for operational costs of the organization and provide additional funding to study and develop the project. In March 2024, WDRWS request $2.2M in additional ARPA funding from the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
It is anticipated that the total expenditure associated with assessing the need, determining the approach to pipeline routing, sizing and locating a potential intake, and completing environmental and financial analyses will total nearly $13M (in 2022 dollars). Upon completion of these initial studies and analyses, the WDRWS will have a better understanding of the expanse, size, and cost of the project.
In February 2023, representatives of the WDRWS met with members of the South Dakota Congressional Delegation to provide an update on the project and request federal authorization necessary for the project to proceed. The WDRWS will continue to have conversations with the Delegation in support of authorization and to request future funding support for the project.
In 2024, South Dakota legislators and the Board of Water and Natural Resources approved $2.165 million dollars of ARPA grant funding to assist in the technical studies for the proposed project. In addition, Gov. Kristi Noem signed Senate Bill 16 which includes a $1 million grant for WDRWS to conduct a feasibility-level study and administration of the study. The approved appropriation will come from the South Dakota Water and Environment Fund and be distributed by the Board of Water and Natural Resources.
