Washington (Sen Heitkamp’s Office) – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp Monday announced that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Central North Dakota Water Supply Project, an important step forward for a project that would help spur economic development in the region by supporting industries that need reliable sources of water.

 

The Central North Dakota Water Supply project would provide water from the McClusky Canal for industrial purposes for Stutsman Rural Water District, Jamestown, Carrington, Central Plains Water District, and Tuttle and South Central Regional Water District.

 

Last week, Heitkamp met with leaders of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District to discuss the importance of moving the Central North Dakota Water Supply Project forward, and other water management issues facing North Dakota. She also helped facilitate a meeting between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District to press for the FONSI.

 

Heitkamp says, “At our meeting with Garrison Diversion last week, we talked about the critical need to get this project moving forward in a way that supports every community in the region. Rural communities need infrastructure to attract industries that create jobs. Properly managing North Dakota’s water resources and providing new infrastructure helps keep every community strong.”

 

Heitkamp has long been working to improve flood protection and access to clean water in rural communities in North Dakota and across the country. In May, Heitkamp announced $29.2 million in federal funding she helped to secure to expand and improve water supply infrastructure in North Dakota through the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Heitkamp pressed the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation to provide significant resources for North Dakota to support rural water projects, including those that will now receive funds. Heitkamp helped secure $24.4 million for water infrastructure last year and $24.8 million in 2016 for rural water infrastructure improvements.

 

Last year, Heitkamp introduced her bipartisan Small and Rural Community Clean Water Technical Assistance Act to authorize two new technical assistance provisions to improve wastewater treatment in rural communities. The legislation builds on her bipartisan Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act, which was signed into law in 2015.

 

The bill was written to help make sure small towns and rural areas – often lacking the resources to the latest technology or access to proper technological assistance to comply with federal clean water rules. Her bill also provides $15 million in annual support for technical assistance and training to community water systems serving not more than 10,000 people and $10 million annually for medium-sized systems serving between 10,001 and 75,000 people. States would also be able to set aside two percent of their Clean Water State Revolving Funds to assist communities in complying with federal rules and improving wastewater quality. The bill has been included in the Senate water infrastructure bill which was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.