The US Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works unanimously passed America’s Water Infrastructure Act Tuesday.
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a member of the EPW Committee, says the water infrastructure bill includes language to update and maintain water infrastructure systems such as dams and levees, upgrade drinking and waste water systems and increase water storage to make certain all citizens have access to safe, clean water. It also gives state and local government leaders a seat at the table to prioritize Army Corps projects in their regions.
Rounds says America’s Water Infrastructure Act prioritizes the implementation of the Upper Missouri River Basin snowpack monitoring program that he’s been calling for since taking office. The program will help mitigate the possibility of a flood event for those living near the Missouri River. Rounds says the bill includes a provision for the Corps to carry out a project for shoreline stabilization on the Lower Brule Reservation.
The senator says the EPW committee was also able to secure a verbal commitment from the Chairman to work with them to fix an Obama-era proposal known as the ‘surplus water rule,’ which restricts South Dakotans’ access to water in Corps-controlled land. He says South Dakotans are legally entitled to use the water and he looks forward to working with his colleagues to make certain we can better use our water along the Missouri River system.
Rounds hopes to bring the bill to the Senate floor soon.
(Dakota Radio Group)