ASRWSS, Dry Prairie Funding Will Complete Project
Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System board chairman Rick Kirn announced this week that ASRWSS has received its full allocation of construction funding that will complete all construction of ASRWSS. The funds will come from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Similarly, the FY 2024 allocation for Dry Prairie will provide the necessary funding to complete all construction outside the Fort Peck Reservation.
Kirn said, “The project brings water to Fort Peck Reservation communities, communities surrounding the reservation, non-profits, for-profits, townspeople, farmers and ranchers, and essential providers of other services. We are pleased that our project will be completed under budget and serve an area just smaller than the state of Massachusetts. We are the first of the Reclamation’s six rural water projects nationwide to complete construction due to the efforts of our manager to demonstrate to Congress that engineering designs were complete, and our project could put Reclamation’s construction funds to use.”
Kirn also commended the Bureau of Indian Affairs for including the necessary level of operation, maintenance and replacement funds in the president’s budget each year to protect the federal investment on the Reservation and in Dry Prairie of $380 million and to successfully operate and maintain the system.
“Our OMR funding needs are small relative to other rural water projects in the Great Plains, which in FY 2024 ranged from $225 per person served per year (our project) to $417 per person per year in the Dakotas. The differences result from the efficiencies built into our project,” Kirn said.
ASRWSS general manager Ashleigh Weeks reported that the project includes a centrally located, state-of-the-art water treatment plant that purifies and disinfects water from the Missouri River and delivers it through multiple pumping stations and reservoirs through 3,200 miles of pipeline serving the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, and off-reservations areas in the balance of Roosevelt, Sheridan and Daniels counties and the eastern half of Valley County. In 2024, it serves 20,000 people in 18 communities and all farms, ranches and other rural residents. The project serves hospitals, schools, community centers, businesses, government facilities, and border stations. The water treated and delivered by ASRWSS and subsequently delivered by Dry Prairie meets all federal and state standards for drinking water and replaces uncertain and poor groundwater sources used historically with a safe, adequate and reliable supply.
Weeks said, “This year we will initiate Phases 3 and 4 of the Fort Peck West project, the last phases of the project to complete all construction on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Phase 3 will be mostly completed this year, and Phase 4 will be completed in 2025. I encourage everyone on the west side of the project to come to our office and complete the easement consent forms if you haven’t already. This will ensure that we finish the project as quickly as possible.”
Dry Prairie is adding rural services between the Westby and Scobey Project areas extending north to the Canadian border. The main pipeline to Opheim has been completed. The Opheim Ph 1 A Branchline is under construction and will be completed this year. The remaining branch pipelines surrounding Opheim and The Pines project will be bid this fall and early in 2025 with construction completion in 2026.
On the operational side of the project, ASRWSS has five fully certified water treatment plant operators and nine fully certified distribution operators. ASRWSS employs 22 people. Weeks said, “These are the most dedicated and qualified people. They are committed to serving the Reservation and the region. Our staff has now provided reliable and safe drinking water to the Reservation and Dry Prairie for over a decade, and full service to the projects on and off the reservation is within reach.”
She continued, “This past year the water treatment plant produced a record 1.112 billion gallons. There were no shortages or threats of shortages of clean, treated water. The staff worked two shifts extending over 18 hours a day, seven days a week to successfully bring water to everyone, and they are working those same shifts this year during the month of July to meet everyone’s needs.”
“We are fortunate to have the Missouri River as our water source,” she said. “There will never be shortages. We see the current struggles on the Colorado River, for example, and are grateful we have a stable water source. The Missouri River is adequate during drought, and our Water Right Compact provides the tribes with a priority right on the river. When the Corps drops the flow of the river to 4,000 cfs this fall, our intake will perform perfectly. The operators take special care when the temperature drops below freezing to see that frazile ice does not negatively impact operations at the intake through installation of a new blower this year that will dislodge frazile ice. We are also working with USGS to develop models that will predict turbidity from runoff and storm events on the Milk River and to address turbidity caused by Corps peak releases from the Fort Peck Reservoir for endangered species. The operators are proactive to ensure that the diverse range of conditions in the Missouri River during all seasons of the year are overcome by their management of the intake and treatment plant.”
Since Congressional authorization for the project, ASRWSS has implemented all phases of design and construction on schedule, within budget constraints and without management concerns resulting in the Project being viewed as a model of success by involved federal agencies.
