by Cory KlumperPresident Barak Obama’s recent budget proposes $2 Million next year for the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System. Officials with the water system say they need more than that to stay on schedule. Executive Director Troy Larson says the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System needs $35 million each year to keep on schedule. Larson says the project is already two years behind. He says the same $2 Million was proposed last year, but the Congressional delegation helped to get the system $10 Million. The recovery act also brought in money that goes toward building a treatment plant. Larson says the annual budget process is frustrating.“It’s very difficult for us to plan accordingly. We don’t know from year to year ‘are we going to have $27 Million, is it going to be $10 Million?’ we don’t know. So we spend a lot of time, energy, and money developing contingency plans,” says Larson. “If we had a set amount where we knew each year we were going to get a set amount of dollars it would certainly make the process easier, but nothing with Lewis and Clark has been easy.”The water pipeline will provide Missouri River water to 20 communities in three states. Larson says thanks to state and member payments the project will deliver water to 10 members by 2012. The other 10 connections are funded completely with federal money until the project is complete.