South Dakota water shortages deepen as aquifers decline

New pipelines and state funding target South Dakota water supply

South Dakota’s water supply has faced pressure for several years from rising population, long-range drought and increased residential, commercial and agricultural water use. Geologists and hydrologists can use scientific charts and graphs to understand the state’s increasing water challenges, while even a non-scientist can see the effects of decreasing water levels at Bear Butte State Park near Sturgis.

The lake that forms the centerpiece of the state park is usually a 215-acre expanse of fresh water that extends 15 feet deep and is home to walleye, crappie and catfish as well as an array of waterfowl and wildlife. This year, as lingering drought combined with falling levels in underground aquifers, the lake is nearly gone. Only a small strip of surface water remains, with depths measured in inches instead of feet. A popular fishing pier is surrounded by hundreds of yards of baked-out lakebed and dried-up vegetation.

Water-level drawdowns in West River areas are visible at Angostura, Bell Fourche and Pactola reservoirs and along Spring Creek through the central Black Hills, where the creek has run dry in spots where water flowed freely for generations. News Watch previously reported that wells are running low or dry at rural ranches and homesteads in the western half of the state.

In East River areas, rural water systems cannot take on new residential, commercial or agricultural customers because the aquifers they rely on are drying up or fully committed under existing water-rights contracts. Even as parts of northeastern South Dakota received high rainfall this year, low water levels are causing region-wide concern. Some shortages have appeared in the Big Sioux Aquifer, which serves communities in eastern South Dakota, including in and around Sioux Falls.

Scientific readings show that many underground aquifers are drier than normal or have reduced water pressure because of lower volumes. Jay Gilbertson, manager of the Brookings-based East Dakota Water Development District, said, “It’s definitely a statewide issue.” He also warned, “If we continue to draw too much water, we’re going to be in trouble.” Gilbertson and other experts are concerned that drought conditions are preventing aquifers from recharging enough as the number of wells being drilled for water rises. “At some point down the line, if the growth continues, we’ll reach a point where all the currently available water supply will be in use,” he said. “In that case, the next family or business that comes to South Dakota will have to bring their own water.”

Large, deep-water Black Hills aquifers such as Madison, Minnelusa and Inyan Kara have lower volumes but continue to provide sufficient supplies. Many smaller, shallower alluvial sources tapped by individual users are dry or nearing depletion. Jeremy Kientz, a fisheries supervisor for the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department, said low precipitation is the main cause of Bear Butte Lake’s decline because the lake is fed by neither a spring nor a creek. Low aquifer levels also contribute to drying stock ponds and small lakes across the state. “It’s all inter-related,” Kientz said. “When the aquifer is full, it’s easier for water to flow above ground, but when the aquifer is low, more water is seeping into the ground.” Kientz said the agency saw a creek-fed pond behind the GFP Outdoor Campus West in Rapid City run dry this summer. “We’ve definitely seen less water flow from springs,” he said. “There’s less pressure from the aquifer coming up from those upwellings.”

Mark Anderson, an adjunct geology professor at South Dakota Mines in Rapid City and a former director with the U.S. Geological Survey, said even wells that do not reach the large aquifers could see reduced flows. Anderson said U.S. Geological Survey observation wells in and around Rapid City show a downward trend in the “heads,” or top levels, of the wells. A well at Jackson Springs along Rapid Creek in Cleghorn Canyon monitors the aquifer level of a main water source for the Rapid City metro area, and the U.S. Geological Survey report shows a steady decline. Anderson said the lack of rain and snow across the Black Hills and the decline in aquifer levels are worrisome for the entire state because the high-elevation region provides recharge to surface and subsurface water sources all the way to the Missouri River and farther east. “It’s not a pending disaster, but if we have another year of drought like this, we’re going to have big concerns in South Dakota,” Anderson said. “We can survive a tough year, but if we have these conditions persist, the succession of low precipitation years is certainly a problem.”

State Sen. Helene Duhamel, a Rapid City Republican who has led efforts to seek new water sources for the state, said water concerns are driving discussion and development of new water-project proposals, including expansions of existing systems in East River and a proposal to build a Missouri River pipeline to the Black Hills region. “As a state, we’ve got to start to recognize that we’re in trouble if the aquifers can’t recharge fast enough and our lakes and reservoirs start to dry up,” Duhamel said. “It’s scary with our population growth and these cycles of drought that appear to be increasingly severe.” Duhamel was part of a water-resources informational meeting in Sioux Falls in late October, where representatives of several rural water systems shared details of expansion projects that could total $13 billion over the next few decades.

In western South Dakota, unlike the eastern half of the state, very few water systems tap the Missouri River, which is seen as a nearly inexhaustible source of fresh water but could someday be tapped by other thirsty states. Projects to bring more Missouri River water to East River areas are underway or in planning, and a proposed pipeline to the western half of the state is being studied. Meanwhile, many West River municipalities and districts have drilled wells into the Madison, Inyan Kara or Minnelusa aquifers for drinking water. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, fewer than a dozen municipal wells in four major Black Hills counties drew from those aquifers in 1960. Nearly 100 such wells now tap the underground supplies, and the number of smaller systems and individual users has also risen over time.

Scientists are increasingly concerned about the water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer, the nation’s largest underground water source, which lies below eight states in the center of the nation, ranging from South Dakota to Texas. The aquifer supplies about a third of the water used for irrigation within the nation’s agricultural breadbasket. A 2022 NASA Earthdata analysis showed that the aquifer was not recharging from precipitation fast enough to overcome heavy water use caused by the “human footprint” placed upon it, leading water levels to drop by up to 200 feet in some locations. The mapping analysis states, “The Ogallala Aquifer provides over 30% of the water for irrigation used in the country. However, overuse is rapidly depleting this aquifer, threatening those who depend on this resource.”

Water-use concerns are rising in the southern Black Hills because of proposals to mine uranium in the region. The Dewey-Burdock in-situ uranium project proposed by Powertech USA, a subsidiary of enCore Energy, would use billions of gallons of water annually from the Inyan Kara and Madison aquifers to capture subsurface uranium on more than 12,000 acres northwest of Edgemont. In-situ mining uses a closed system that circulates groundwater treated with oxygen and carbon dioxide to capture underground uranium, which is then separated and collected at the surface. The project was proposed nearly 15 years ago but has been held up by legal challenges, though federal permit approvals were obtained earlier this year.

Water-use applications filed recently with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources propose 1,000 wells into the Inyan Kara aquifer to use nearly 2.4 billion gallons per year, indicating a net water removal of 89 million gallons per year. Powertech USA also proposed two wells into the Madison aquifer to remove about 83 million gallons per year. The company said it would restore the aquifers “by continued circulation of clean water through the wells until water quality reaches near-pre-existing conditions.” Public comment on the project is being accepted by the Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources until Nov. 9. Comments can be submitted online through the Petition/Comment Deadline tab under the Powertech applications in the Water Rights section. A hearing on the proposals before the South Dakota Water Management Board is scheduled for Dec. 2, and both proposals have been recommended for approval by the chief engineer of the water rights program.

Concern over lower water supplies led one West River lawmaker earlier this year to question whether limits on future growth are needed in the Black Hills. Until new pipeline projects come online, water experts are urging greater conservation and reuse to protect supplies. State Rep. Mike Derby co-chaired an ad hoc legislative water development work group that met twice during the summer to educate lawmakers about water systems and potential shortages across the state. Derby, a Rapid City Republican who co-chairs the Joint Appropriations Committee, said, “It’s a bit of a wake-up call when we see wells drying up in South Dakota.” One of his goals is to bring urgency to legislative colleagues for whom the problem can feel far in the future. “We’re in that timeline where it’s like, ‘I’m going to plant a tree knowing that I’m not going to be around to get shade from it,’” he said.

Duhamel said finding money for water projects will be a major effort during the 2027 legislative session. “Everybody is waking up to this big problem we have,” Duhamel said. “The true thing that holds up water projects is that you can only grow at the pace of funding.” In the 2026 session, she was the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 231, which passed and created the Water Infrastructure Development Fund. The fund received $3 million in state general funds for grants and loans supporting future rural water projects. Duhamel said she will try to appropriate more money into the fund and could seek other sources, including the contractor’s excise tax or money from unclaimed property. She tied the funding to the state’s economic future: “Water is life and there’s nothing more basic,” she said. “It’s also the fuel for economic development because if we want to grow this state, we can’t do it without water.” Duhamel said legislative support for water investment is growing across the state. “It’s kind of a nonpartisan no-brainer to do something that really matters for our children and our grandchildren,” she said.