Since goldrush days, sufficient water for the southern Black Hills has been a problem. In the late 1800s developers channeled water through wooden flumes for miles, hoping to enhance agriculture, industry, and day-to-day life.
The new Southern Black Hills Rural Water System will move water through 12 to 18 inch main lines. The system’s board of directors hopes to develop a large and involved membership, tap into funding that includes new federal stimulus dollars, and eventually sink six or seven wells into the Madison Aquifer. That will ensure quality water and sufficient flow to meet a wide range of needs as the region grows.
“People love living in the country,” said Custer’s Don Kraus, a board member. “When you add water to the picture, it’s amazing what develops.”
The system is planned so it will serve not only 6,000 projected rural users by the year 2050, but so it can supplement municipal water systems in the region. The Southern Black Hills water territory extends from the Nebraska border north to Hart Ranch Road in Pennington County, and from Highway 79 west to the Wyoming border.
“It’s a challenging region because of the population change from summer to winter—you’ve got so many year-round residents, but then the summer visitors come and affect utilities usage,” said George Vansco, field program supervisor for the South Dakota Association of Rural Water Systems. “On the other hand, we know there will be development and population growth, so we can build with those projected numbers in mind. The state of South Dakota looked at the area and asked, do we work with each community’s water needs individually, or do we look at a regional system?”
The system already has rights to the Streeter well west of Buffalo Gap. That well has produced water since the late 1940s. Southern Black Hills Rural Water is a nonprofit cooperative, and as it grows into new areas people from those locales will be elected to the governing board.
“Our volunteer board, which works very hard in their own communities and in Pierre, is a tribute to the belief people have in this system,” said Don Peterson, system manager. He and the board are actively seeking members. People interested should phone him at 605-424-2066 or 605-863-1265.
It’s been five years since serious discussions about the system were initiated. By 2005 the state was on board, annually supplying matching funds for planning, feasibility study, engineering, and early construction. Federal dollars began flowing in 2008 with loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program, and through an Environmental Protection Agency grant.
Now Southern Black Hills Rural Water is applying for federal stimulus funding—funding at levels that could move the project along quickly.
“This is a big step for the region, something that will open new opportunities in the southern Black Hills and improve the daily lives of many rural residents,” said Black Hills Community Economic Development executive director Jim Doolittle.
