State Representatives passed a bill establishing nine river basin natural resource districts in South Dakota. Senate Bill Two also creates a task force to work with local governments in northeast South Dakota and launch a pilot water management plan to be used as a guide for the other districts. The pilot program focuses on the Red River and Minnesota River Basin Natural Resource District, which is a closed basin. The water rises and has no place to go. Representative Brian Gosch is a prime sponsor of the bill.
“You’ve got land inundated that would normally be cultivated acres,” Gosch says. “You’ve got county roads washing away, you’ve got state highways washing away. The idea is to set up a water management plan that would help alleviate or mitigate that problem. And so, throughout that water basin district then, you’d set up a plan so that water that comes onto the property flows through to its natural course in a way that would have a less negative effect in that area.”
But opponents say the water is already moving in its natural course, and passing a bill won’t make the water go down.
The measure passed with a vote of 51 to 18.