DORGAN SAYS INVESTMENTS IN SOUTH CENTRAL WATER DISTRICT WILL IMPROVE WATER QUALITY
Projects will help fulfill government promise
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(LINTON, N.D.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) held a meeting here today with area officials to talk water, including new investments he has secured to improve water quality throughout the area.
“A safe, dependable supply of drinking water is crucial to the well-being of any community,” Dorgan said. “And these investments help to fulfill the federal government’s promise of moving Missouri River water around to meet regional needs in exchange for the permanent flood in the middle of North Dakota.”
As a result of a provision added by Dorgan in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the South Central Water District received $20 million in funding earlier this year to construct an intake and water treatment plant near Linton as well as install pipeline in Emmons County.
In addition, Dorgan recently won Senate approval for $9 million for the South Central Regional Water District to begin construction on rural Emmons County distribution, including service to Hague, Braddock, and State Line Water Cooperative.
As Chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, Dorgan is charged with writing the bill that funds all of the nation’s energy and water projects. The bill was approved by the full Senate in July. Dorgan included $70 million in the bill for Garrison Diversion projects – more than triple the amount customarily devoted to the projects before he became subcommittee Chairman.
“This funding is owed to our state under an agreement with the federal government when they built the Garrison Dam. We got the permanent flood, but have never received the promised benefits.”
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