Keeping New Underwood Underway

Teresa Hall, Mayor, City of New Underwood

Teresa Hall, Mayor of New Underwood, was recently approached by a group called Western Dakota Regional Water System (WDRWS). This group wanted to speak with Hall about New Underwood’s water resources — a topic that many communities, large and small, are fiercely grappling with. “The messages from this group were persistent and passionate,” Hall recalls. “So I decided to go to one of their meetings.” 

The Study

During that meeting, Hall and others in attendance were presented with the findings of a study conducted by South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. This comprehensive study was completed in 2019, and it laid out three likely water scenarios for western South Dakota: 

1. During a prolonged period of above-average rainfall, western South Dakota’s current water supply would sustain its people for the next 100 to 200 years or more. 
2. During a prolonged period of typical rainfall, western South Dakota’s current water supply could sustain its people for the next 50 to 100 years. 
3. During a prolonged period of drought, western South Dakota’s current water supply is inadequate today. 

The SD Mines Study concluded by stating: 

A strong need for new sources of water within the study area exists … If water is to be brought to western Pennington County via pipeline from the Missouri River, a project such as this would likely take decades to approve and construct. As the population in the area increases, the need to ensure water security will grow ever greater. Therefore, local entities with a stake in our water security should pool their resources to ensure that they are proactive in securing future sources of water, one of which could involve water from the Missouri River.

“I was just blown away by the information and the enthusiasm of those who presented it,” Hall says. Following that meeting, Hall concluded that the work of WDRWS was something that she and her hometown of New Underwood needed to be a part of. 

WDRWS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was founded in September of 2021. This group was formed in response to the 2019 SD Mines study as a way to organize and mobilize the water resources of western South Dakota. The organization is examining multiple ways to address the present and looming water crisis of the region. The centerpiece of the project is a pipeline from the Missouri River to western South Dakota.

New Underwood

Hall now serves as a board member for WDRWS. “It’s a really worthwhile project,” she says. “I really think it’s important that New Underwood gets in on the ground floor. If we don’t take part in things like this, we’ll get left behind. This will keep our town alive.”

Hall deeply cares about her hometown, and adores the lifestyle that New Underwood provides for her and her family. “I moved to New Underwood when I was in seventh grade. I graduated high school here, moved away and then moved back. I just really prefer small town living,” she says. “I’ve got family here. My husband’s family is here. I work in insurance right here in New Underwood, and let me tell you what, it’s been the best.”

New Underwood was incorporated in 1908. The town has relied on two wells for their water. “And they’re always at risk of failing,” Hall says. 

Almost all of the drinking water in western South Dakota comes from underground aquifers, namely the Madison Aquifer. This underground source of water has provided residents of western South Dakota with plentiful and high-quality water for generations. 

As officials from South Dakota consider the water needs of their communities, an increasing number of them are considering this critical aspect of progress and growth from a long term perspective. And many of them are seeing a need to create redundancy in their water systems.

Small Towns are at Risk 

“I don’t want us ever to be without water. If we don’t have water, we don’t have a town,” Hall says. For communities like New Underwood, the need to create redundancy in their water system may be even more pressing than that of larger communities. 

The conventional approach for communities shoring up their water futures is to secure diverse sources to draw on and establish a system of conservation. Communities are able to take stock and create “if-then” scenarios — if this water source fails, then we can rely on this one. If these wells are running low, this sort of conservation measure can be taken. Some communities, though, have fewer choices when it comes to these redundancies. 

Communities — especially those located in between the Missouri River and the Black Hills — are at higher risk for being impacted by dwindling water supplies. Due to geological and topographical features, these communities usually rely on shallow wells to tap into aquifers. These shallow wells are typically more vulnerable to degradation of water quality and depletion. For this reason, it is likely that as water sources are strained more in western South Dakota, the first communities to feel the repercussions in an irrecoverable way would be smaller communities on the outskirts of the Black Hills — like New Underwood.  

Life Without Water

 As a child, Hall had a first hand experience of a life without ready access to water. She knows the struggles and the decrease in quality of life that restricted access to water brings. 

“We all typically take water for granted. When I was a little girl, we lived on the Cheyenne River. We, of course, had a well with a pump, and sometimes we would go weeks without electricity in the winter. That meant that we couldn’t pump our water. So, a lot of times, we would have to go out and melt snow. If we didn’t, a lot of stuff would come to a stand still. We had to have water to basically do everything.”

The act of western South Dakota piping in water from the Missouri River is by no means a minor project. “It’s going to take many, many years for this to come to fruition,” Hall explains. “But every year that we wait, is another year that we’re behind. If you want to make a change and make a positive impact, a lot of times you just have to start yourself. So I hope that if I step up in my way, other people will be able to see the need and step up themselves. I hope that we’ll create some momentum that way. ”

WDRWS is not the first group in the state to pursue Missouri River water. Projects like the Lewis & Clark Water System on the eastern side of South Dakota are successfully providing Missouri River water to the residents of those communities. The Lewis & Clark System and others have been supportive of WDRWS and have gladly provided the organization with guidance.  

One of the key lessons that major water projects like Lewis & Clark can teach an organization trying to replicate their success is funding. Historically, most of the funding for these extensive infrastructure projects comes from federal sources (80 percent of the Lewis & Clarks funding came from the federal government).

What is the average person to do?

So what can the average resident of western South Dakota do to advance this generations-impacting project? “When we’re applying for state or federal grants, let your legislators know that you’re in favor of this. Let your state officials and federal officials know that this is something that is really important — that this has been on the back burner for too long,” Hall says. Lawmakers, typically, listen to their constituents — especially if there seems to be a consensus among them. 

Mayor Hall is optimistic for both the future of this infrastructure project and of her hometown of New Underwood. “I’m really excited about the future, and I hope that the momentum just keeps gathering. We just need to get the word out. It’s important that people know that this is going on and why we’re doing it.”