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Surplus water charge prevented in WRRDA

A provision to make sure South Dakotans wouldn’t be charged for surplus water from the Missouri River is part of the Water Resources compromise bill (WRRDA) that passed the House early this week.  The measure was included by South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem.

“Surplus water actually impacts several small communities along the Missouri River that pull water out. It impacts a couple of our tribes that utilize that utilize water from there. So, it was going to be pretty detrimental if the Corps of Engineers and the federal government decided that they were going to start charging us for our own water,” Noem told reporters this week.

The provision would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from charging for surplus water for the next 10 years.

The Senate could vote on the water resources development (WRRDA) bill this week.

[The U.S. Senate passed the WRRDA bill following this posting}