By Sara Strong
The Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project is a part of a bill on President Bush’s desk, after waiting through some doubtful months.
Bush had originally appropriated $2 million for the fiscal year 2003 budget, but the full $7 million made it through.
The system can now start the process of purchasing land and digging wells to get the Missouri River water project started.
U.S. Representative Gil Gutknecht is a new legislator in the southwest district. He voted against the bill because of the high cost.
The budget that included Lewis and Clark was sent to the president with a 338-83 approval in the U.S. House of Representatives and 76-20 in the Senate.
The project still has a struggle to get water to Rock County by 2014. President Bush’s budget proposal for 2004 gives nothing to Lewis and Clark.
With 80 percent of the funding coming from the federal level, members are closely watching what happens to the upcoming budgets.
Rock County Rural Water recommended to the Board of Commissioners that it not sign a new agreement to continue membership of the system. Rural Water said the cost wasn’t worth the benefits and noted that its own improvements are sufficient to end the need for Lewis and Clark water.
Cost to members of the system is spread over time. The city of Luverne is estimating a payment of $36,000 this year for its contracted amount of 750,000 gallons of Lewis and Clark water. Rural Water’s portion of the agreement for 2003 was $20,000 for the 300,000 allotment.
