Hey, Mobridge! Aberdeen is thirsty—send water!
Monday night, the Aberdeen City Council approved hiring Bismarck engineering firm Bartlett & West to study the feasibility of laying a hundred miles of pipe to bring water from Lake Oahe to Aberdeen’s Water Treatment Plant. Here’s Bartlett & West’s proposal letter from Monday’s council agenda packet:
Consider us Aberdonians good neighbors, just trying to reduce the flood risk to Pierre….
Hmmm… I wonder if our Congressional delegation will support funding this ambitious infrastructure project. After all, as City Manager Joe Gaa says, we “can’t grow without water.”
Should be fine until the oil pipeline breaks and pollutes the Oahe with oil. Imagine all those oil-slicked wall-eye and salmon!
I’m tempted to say “Let’s Aberdeen die of thirst.” Aberdeen city government, particularly the very short-sighted Mayor Jeff Solum, opposed the exchange of the WEB Pipeline for the Oahe Irrigation Project that was offered by the Carter Administration. Well, they lost that fight, Oahe died, and at that point Aberdeen had an opportunity to hook up to WEB. Despite the good faith effort of WEB supporters to get Aberdeen leaders to drop their pigheadedness and join WEB, city leaders rejected the offer. As a result WEB was sized to exclude Aberdeen’s water needs.
My belief is that today’s residents shouldn’t have to die of thirst, but they shouldn’t expect federal taxpayers to totally bail them out, either. Sorry, you guys need to pay for being stupid.
According to our congressional delegation as they criticize the Biden infrastructure proposal, water is not infrastructure, only roads and bridges, ergo the measly counter-proposal.
Personally, I’d rather drain an aquifer or two before taking water from the Missouri. It’s so polluted that even after it’s cleaned, it’s undrinkable.
Hey could you spigot some for Hosmer?
What Donald said.
Since the regressives think that only roads and bridges are infrastructure — let Aberdeen truck water from the Oahe reservoir.
Well…Its about time. Hate to argue with Donald Pay and other thoughtful correspondents, but South Dakota has been short changed by the whole Pick=Sloan dam building boondogle. All we got out of the deal was a permanent flood and a few more walleyes. This is just another rural water project (and yes, hook up Hosmer and Java too) and if it benefits Aberdeen, let’s go for it.
Arlo, I don’t mind if Aberdeen gets water from the Missouri River, providing they get the support of the Indian tribes who have rights to that water, and negotiates with them over some sort of payment, as well as build it themselves with zero federal help. Unlike Aberdeen, I supported rural water pipeline projects, particularly WEB, which could have provided good quality water to Aberdeen. Aberdeen had a chance to get in on WEB, but they had bad leadership who had a temper tantrum and turned down their opportunity. Now they shouldn’t be able to cry and whine and get federal subsidies.
Arlo, but where else can you see a cowboy riding a walleye, now that’s a sculpture.
Well Donald, let’s let by gones be by gones…the so called leadership “Speaker Joe” and the rest were flummoxed by the fact that Kurt Hohn, Steve Thorson and the United Family Farmers had spiked the Oahe Project…Dick Kneip was too…and it was a nearly an unbelievable victory for the grassroots….They tantrumed…McGovern was stunned by it and his political career in South Dakota didn’t recover. Tim Johnson picked up the pieces and did a great job mother henning rural water projects through the Congress…Times change and needs change…finally Aberdeen has woken up to the need for a water supply beyond the Elm River…gotta be done with federal funding….name one large worthwhile project that’s been accomplished in South Dakota without MASSIVE federal support. Let’s see if our current Congressional delegation can deliver for Aberdeen. Doubtful.
This is the type of action that seems historically to precede US natural resources assets being transported to/through Canada.
Is this a salvo in the water war?
Follow the water ..
Arlo, the Conservancy Subdistrict, the elected local governmental entity, decided on the local water needs of the area. It was their decision to scuttle Oahe because of the many problems with that project. And they sought to develop the WEB pipeline to meet the needs of the area for domestic water. It was a great compromise. Sorry that Aberdeen’s leaders and business community couldn’t bring themselves to the table, but when you are building large projects like water pipelines you don’t get a do-over. Aberdeen deserves to choke on their poor quality water. You didn’t mention the maneuverings that Janklow, Abnor and James Watt to scuttle WEB without getting their hands dirty, and trying to blame Daschle. Daschle came through.. Sorry, but, Aberdeen should pay for their water pipeline, and not expect others to pay for it after they turned down a far cheaper alternative.
Well..Donald, you are correct, there were many chapters in that saga…I am not up to speed on the WEB history but it makes sense given the times that the Republicans would do all they could to discredit Daschle…especially as he was a Aberdeen native. It was full body contact politics. Bitter and Personal. The Republicans didn’t try to defeat Democrats, they tried to ruin them politically and destroy them financially. Still do.
Aberdeen should be working with WEB Water on this. Aberdeen needs more water and so does WEB Water. Aberdeen was stupid many years ago to not join WEB Water and to try and do a pipeline on their own would be stupid again.