South Dakota board assigns final $6.1 million in Biden-era federal funds for water projects
A grass buffer strip along the Big Sioux River. (Courtesy of Big Sioux River Project)
The South Dakota Board of Water and Natural Resources assigned the final dollars of Biden-era federal funding for drinking water and wastewater projects during its November meeting.
The dollars come from the American Rescue Plan Act. Congress passed the ARPA legislation in 2021. Then-President Joe Biden signed it into law that March. It included a total of $1.9 trillion in funding to stimulate the national economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Dakota has used more than $703 million in money made available through that federal legislation for water infrastructure and quality improvement projects. In 2025, Agriculture and Natural Resouces Secretary Hunter Roberts told lawmakers that the ARPA funding led to a “water renaissance” in the state.
For broadcasters:
Last week, the governor-appointed board approved funding for a riparian buffer strip program administered by the state’s Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, as well as for infrastructure projects to expand access to water for customers in the Mitchell area and rural Minnehaha and Moody counties.
Andy Bruels, of the agriculture and natural resources department, thanked staff, board members, local water district leaders and the contractors who helped complete the projects.
“This would not have been possible without everybody working together,” he said. “It was an effort from all parties and we’ve done a lot of very good benefit.”
The federal money funded 199 water and infrastructure projects, according to a press release from the deparment. Nearly $400 million of the funding went to support drinking water projects, and a little less than $300 million contributed to wastewater and stormwater projects. The remainder of the dollars supported water quality improvements across the state.
Final American Rescue Plan Act water project awards
- Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources: $3.5 million for the department’s Riparian Buffer Initiative. The program pays landowners to plant vegetated buffer strips between livestock and waterways. To date, it’s funded 153 signed riparian buffer contracts to protect more than 320 miles of streambanks and lake shoreline across South Dakota. American Rescue Plan Act grant funding has now contributed a total of $10.5 million to the program.
- Randall Community Water District: $1.3 million to support additional water supplies for Mitchell. The funded project includes approximately 38 miles of transmission pipeline, booster stations, storage facilities, and upgrades to the Platte Water Treatment Plant. American Rescue Plan Act grant funding has now contributed $25.3 million to the project.
- Shared Resources: $1.3 million for a regional water supply project undertaken by the Minnehaha Community Water Corporation, headquartered in Dell Rapids, and the Big Sioux Community Water System, whose office is in Egan. The project includes an 8 million gallon per day water treatment plant, well field, distribution pipeline, and two storage tanks. American Rescue Plan Act grant funding has now contributed $53.4 million million to the project.
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