Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight
A state board approved additional usage of the James River for irrigation and endorsed a future-use permit for a proposed water pipeline from the Missouri River to western South Dakota.
The South Dakota Water Management Board’s decisions, made Wednesday in Pierre, finalized the James River proposal and advanced the Western Dakota Regional Water System application to the state Legislature for consideration.
The pipeline application would reserve 20,765 acre-feet of Missouri River water annually for use in 19 western South Dakota counties. That’s nearly 7 billion gallons per year.
Ron Duvall, a state engineer with the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, recommended approval of the permit based on the abundant availability of water in the river, the need for the reserved amount and the potential beneficial use of the water.
He said the request is in addition to 52,545 acre-feet already reserved by other entities involved with the pipeline proposal, potentially bringing the total amount of the project’s water rights to 73,310 acre-feet.
The Western Dakota Regional Water System, established in 2021 and based in Rapid City, aims to deliver Missouri River water to communities, tribes and rural water systems. The project has received some state and local funding but has a projected cost in the billions, which would require federal funding.
The application does not authorize immediate construction or use but would reserve the right to use the water in the future.
James River increase
The board also approved a plan to increase pumping rights on the James River.
There are currently 116 water rights or permits and two future-use permits on the eastern South Dakota waterway, appropriating or reserving 298.92 cubic feet per second of the 300 cfs limit. Demand for more agricultural water rights and an increase in the amount of water flowing down the river prompted the state’s Water Rights Program to reassess its James River management plan.
The river has experienced a nearly 300% increase in its annual flow since the late 1990s. A state report says increased precipitation is the cause. Other researchers have attributed widespread streamflow increases not only to higher precipitation, but also to urban development that sends rainfall running across concrete and asphalt into streams, expanding tile drainage systems under farmland that divert excess moisture into local creeks and rivers, and the conversion of grassland to cropland, which causes higher runoff.
Acknowledging the recommendation from the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources to exceed the 300 cfs cap established in 1965, the board voted to approve the plan.
The plan does not include a fixed cap. Instead, it transitions the state to a system in which individual water permit applications are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.