119th (2025–2027)
S. 3723
This bill directs the Secretary of the Interior, working through the Bureau of Reclamation, to study whether it's feasible to build a project that would pipe municipal, rural, and industrial water from the Missouri River to the Western Dakota Regional Water System, a nonprofit that serves communities in western South Dakota. The Secretary must work with the water system and consult with federal, state, tribal, and local authorities, then produce a public report recommending whether the project should be built and what share of construction costs local users should cover, which must be at least 25 percent. The federal government would cover up to half the cost of the feasibility study itself, with total federal spending on the study capped at $10 million, and the Secretary must identify funding sources within 90 days of enactment. This authority to conduct the study expires five years after the bill becomes law. The legislation does not authorize or fund actual construction of the water supply project, only the study to determine whether it makes sense to build it.