Some rural South Dakotans struggle to get good drinking water but the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded two local communities with grants to help change it.

Nearly $13 million in WaterSMART Drought Resiliency grants are slated for projects in Eagle Butte and Day County. The Mni Wašté Water Company, run by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, will receive $2.8 million to pipe water 10 miles northwest of the community to supply 17 existing residences and 20 being constructed.

Leo Fischer, executive director, Mni Wašté Water Company and enrolled member of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, said the water company started planning this project in 1993 and in the meantime, the people living there have had to haul their water.

"It's more of a pain than it is anything, because you haul it in the back of a vehicle," Fischer pointed out. "In the wintertime, everything freezes up."

Piped water is important in the region, because area groundwater wells are of poor quality, must run deep into the ground and have proven unreliable.

To the east, the WEB Water Development Association is slated to receive nearly $10 million to build about 40 miles of pipeline, supplying more than 700 people with drinking water in the city of Waubay and in rural Day County.

Shane Phillips, general manager of the association, said it feels ironic to be doing a project in Day County, which is known for having ample water.

"It's the true quality of the water that's not great in Day County," Phillips observed. "There's total dissolved solids. It's really high in minerals."

Phillips added the company hopes to break ground in 2025 on its project piping and treating potable water from the Missouri River. The Bureau of Reclamation has made WaterSMART grants in 11 states this year.


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Compared with other states, North Dakota has yet to see a big invasion of aquatic nuisance species. But officials are not letting their guard down, and to protect regional lakes, they ask boaters to pitch in with key cleaning steps.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department says because of its location, North Dakota has largely been shielded from nonnative plants, insects and other organisms infesting its waterways as they have in coastal areas and the Great Lakes region.

Ben Holen, the department's aquatic nuisance species or ANS coordinator, said the southeastern part of the state has seen activity, namely with zebra mussels.

"Zebra mussels, they're manipulators of the ecosystem. They completely cover docks," he explained. "They clog water intakes. They push nutrients to the bottom, which increases vegetation growth out there."

That's bad news for native species, as well as economic activity from water recreation. As North Dakotans prepare their boats for the summer, they're asked to memorize key steps for each outing. Those include cleaning, draining and drying all equipment after every use, with a focus on removing all plants or animals from the watercraft prior to leaving the site. Doing so means these tiny creatures won't find their way to the next lake.

While his department does its mitigation work, Holen said, boat owners are being given tools to aid in their responsibility. Each year, boat-cleaning stations are being set up at access points to various North Dakota lakes.

"We've been looking to provide more and more each year for boaters, so it's never been easier for boaters to get cleaned, drained, dry at the boating access," he continued.

Holen said if boaters are not eager to help out, they could feel an economic pinch later through tax increases and higher water bills if state and local agencies have to clean or replace infrastructure damaged by an infestation.


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Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would require property owners to disclose the presence of lead water service lines during a real estate transaction.

Some of Iowa's residential water lines date back more than a century.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least half of the children in the United States are at risk of lead exposure from water lines.

The Iowa Environmental Council's Director of Climate Initiatives Cody Smith said the problem is especially acute in Iowa, where most of the homes built before 1980 have lead in the lines that bring water to the house, and added it will be extremely expensive to address.

"It's estimated that fixing Iowa's lead service line issue would cost about $900 million statewide," said Smith. "So, this is a pressing health concern for the children in our state."

Iowa is responding to a federal rule passed last year that requires all service lines that contain lead to be replaced by 2035.

House File 876 would require sellers to disclose that their house has lead service lines in a real estate transaction.

Iowa utility companies are notifying people if their house has lead in its service lines and offering assistance to remediate it.

Smith said homeowners can also find out for themselves if there's lead in their pipes.

"You can use, like, a penny to scratch your service line where it comes in to often the foundation of your home," said Smith. "And you'll see if it's copper. It it's copper, you're fine. Or if it's PVC plastic, you're fine. But oftentimes, it's going to be a lead service line."

HF 876 has passed the Iowa House and awaits action in the Senate.




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Both water quantity and quality are important in the dry climate of Nevada. Now, a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency could roll back protections for the state's water resources.

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said he wants to reduce protections granted under the Clean Water Act in an effort to undo "unfair burdens" on farmers and landowners. The 1972 federal law aims to maintain and restore the nation's waters.

Natasha Majewski, climate and energy consultant for the Nevada Wildlife Federation, said the waters covered by the act have changed over the years, but it is all an interconnected system.

"Lincoln County doesn't have the same amount of resources as Clark County, and yet water is still flowing from that county into tributaries such as the Muddy River," Majewski pointed out. "That goes into the Colorado River. That will end up being drinking water."

In 2023, the Supreme Court narrowed the definition of "waters of the United States." It determined only wetlands physically connected to other federally-recognized waters qualify for protection.

Majewski noted while Nevada has its own water laws, federal regulation is needed to maintain a baseline for all states. This week, listening sessions about the proposal will be held for government agencies and Native American tribes.

The Trump administration has said it wants to reduce "red tape" for business and industry but conservationists fear loosening restrictions will cause more pollution in Nevada's wetlands and ephemeral streams. Majewski argued water should not be a partisan issue.

"It is important that all Nevadans, whatever kind of political side they are on, are able to understand these issues more," Majewski stressed. "Because water, it surpasses the administration that it's currently in."

Majewski added changing water protections could affect the quality of the Colorado River and would cause complications due to the amount of agencies managing the river.

"The Colorado River and its different tributaries that come in, it is such a patchwork of people that manage those water sources," Majewski explained.