Congress Proposes $10 Million Interior Department Study to Expand Lewis and Clark Water System

350,000 people across Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota rely on the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System — and its members project they'll need 82.8 million gallons per day by 2070, far above the system's 60 MGD design ceiling

The federal government has already appropriated $532 million toward Lewis & Clark — covering 80% of total project costs — with an estimated $15 million in federal cost share still remaining

Lewis & Clark took 34 years from conception to completion: authorized by Congress in 2000, operational in 2012, and delivering water to its final member in August 2024

Dakota Mainstem — the second system these bills target — lists over 50 member organizations across South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, but has not yet broken ground on any construction

Of 22 Bureau of Reclamation rural water appraisal investigations completed before the general program expired in 2016, only 5 reached full feasibility studies — and Reclamation recommended none of them for construction funding