Madison gets water system after 34-year wait

MADISON, S.D. (KELO) — Nearly 35 years ago the city of Madison joined the Lewis and Clark Regional water system project.

But unlike some communities, their wait to actually be hooked up to the water took a lot longer than expected.

The city of Madison signed up for the Lewis and Clark waterline in January of 1990. However, federal funding ran out, putting their part of the project on hold.

“It was first anticipated to only take nine years to get it finished. That didn’t happen. And so right now, in that we started receiving water directly from Lewis and Clark, August 2nd, 2024,” Madison Mayor Roy Lindsay said.

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While Madison has been getting some water from Lewis and Clark since 2017, it had to be rerouted through the Big Sioux Water System up until August.

“So we’ve been getting water for a few years, being directly connected now, you know, allows us to have our full allocation over one million gallons per day. So that’s the big change,” Director of Engineering & Community Development, Ryan Hegg said.

Having more access to water won’t only benefit the city as it is now, but also how it looks in the future.

“We are running 70% of the water from our shallow wells and approximately 30% from Lewis and Clark. But with the growth of Dakota State University, with the growth in our housing and the growth of our industrial park and our industries in Madison, the need for water has been growing,” Lindsay said.

“Our future needs are going to dictate more water use. And and we intend on increasing that allocation through Lewis and Clark,” Hegg said.

The funding to continue the project came from a bipartisan infrastructure law.