Santee receives priority from the state for clean water project grant

The Santee Sioux Nation in northern Nebraska has been under a drinking water advisory issued by the tribe, with support from the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 7, for four years due to high levels of manganese in the reservation’s water supply.

In the spring, a bill to allocate $10 million dollars for water infrastructure projects in Nebraska tribal communities failed to get out of the Appropriations Committee in the Nebraska Legislature.

However, Sen. Anna Wishart added a provision to another budget bill that would prioritize grant applications for water infrastructure projects in locations under a no-drink order.

That bill was passed, allowing the Santee to apply for up to $20 million in funding from the Water Sustainability Fund.

Santee Sioux vice chairman Kameron Runnels said receiving help from the state legislature came as a welcome surprise.

“We were pretty skeptical, I think, of getting anything from the state,” he said. “So, when they got this, it provided another source, just in case we don't get whatever else we're trying for.”

The money will go to fund a $53 million project connecting the reservation with the Randall Community Water District in South Dakota through a pipeline across the Missouri River.