Senator Dorgan Secures $18.3 Million Investment In Water Infrastructure Across North Dakota

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Senator says Corps-funded projects will create jobs, invest in rural North Dakota communities

May 19, 2009 -- (MINOT, N.D.) – U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) announced Friday he has secured $18.3 million in federal economic recovery package funding to strengthen water supply and infrastructure systems across North Dakota – including $5.86 million for communities in the Minot region.

Dorgan – who chairs the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds this U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program – said the projects will help create jobs and deliver a safe, reliable supply of water to more communities in rural North Dakota. Dorgan said this funding will speed up the timeline for completion of the water projects, delivering a new water supply to residents as much as four years ahead of schedule.

The $5.86 million investment in the north-central North Dakota will go toward construction on three separate projects that will benefit residents of the cities of Ryder and Makoti, as well as rural Ward, Wells, Stutsman, Kidder and McLean counties.

“There are few things as important to a community as a safe, reliable supply of water,” Dorgan said. “With these new investments, thousands of residents will receive a new water supply ahead of schedule. I’m proud we were able to do that, because this is an investment in these rural communities that will create jobs now and lay the foundation for economic growth in the future.”

As Chairman of the energy and water panel, Dorgan has made it a priority to speed up delivery of safe, reliable water supplies to North Dakota communities. Earlier this year, Congress approved a bill that included funding secured by Dorgan to boost North Dakota water projects – including a record $70 million for the Garrison Diversion project. These new recovery funds are a part of a major North Dakota water and environmental infrastructure program that Dorgan developed and authorized last Congress.

A complete list of the economic recovery package projects that Dorgan announced today is below:

• $3.105 million to construct a new water transmission pipeline, concrete storage facility and pump station to deliver treated water to the communities of Ryder and Makoti and rural Ward County.

• $480,000 to construct water transmission pipelines to serve rural Wells, Stutsman and Kidder counties, where residents rely on individual wells with poor water quality.

• $2.275 million to expand water service to rural residents of western McLean and Ward counties. Residents of these areas currently depend on wells that in many cases have high levels of iron, manganese, sodium and arsenic.

• $275,000 to construct a new storage tank at the city of Hague that will eliminate the highly variable water pressure and intermittent water service that residents of the area experience during peak demand periods.

• $260,000 to replace an aging water main in the city of Zeeland.

• $4.855 million to expand the water supply system in McKenzie County, which suffers from declining flow rates and pressures, degraded quality, and unreliable water service.

• $2.4 million to relocate Valley City’s main sewer line away from the Sheyenne River. This spring’s devastating floods caused the sewer line to collapse along Main Street.

• $900,000 to expand availability of safe, reliable water supplies in Richland County, where arsenic and other contaminants have made groundwater sources exceed federal and state health guidelines. The project includes installation of new piping and motors, updated controls, and the construction of an additional 200,000 gallons of storage capacity.

• $3.75 million to provide a more reliable and increased water supply to the cities of Casselton, Kindred, Mapleton and Davenport, all of which are members of the Cass Rural Water Users system.

Senator Byron Dorgan