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<br />Western States Water Council <br />Full Council Minutes <br /> <br />Sioux Falls, South Dakota <br />May 4, 2007 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />WELCOME. INTRODUCTIONS AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Duane Smith welcomed members and guests. The minutes of the last meeting were approved. <br /> <br />WATER RESOURCES ISSUES IN THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA <br /> <br />Steve Pirner, Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, <br />welcomed members and brought the greetings of Governor Mike Rounds. He explained the Department is <br />responsible for mining, oil and gas, water rights, federal environmental programs, but not fish and wildlife. <br /> <br />He used a powerpoint presentation, and displayed a map of the surface water resources of South <br />Dakota. There are ten major river basins. The Missouri River cuts the state in two geographically, politically <br />and as it relates to water resources. On the eastern side ofthe state there are flooding issues. On the western <br />side, it is mostly rangeland and the major issue is a lack of water, due to lower average annual precipitation. <br /> <br />Steve discussed the State's five top water challenges. Lack of water is the first challenge. South <br />Dakota is an arid state. Prairie stream flows are seasonal; high in the Spring and low or zero in the Summer. <br />Steve also noted the state has limited ground water supplies, and in many cases the water is of poor quality. <br /> <br />The state protects and manages both surface and ground water quantity and quality. There is a <br />network of 1600 wells, most east river, tracking water levels. There are 145 wells measuring ambient ground <br />water quality at 80 sites in 25 aquifers. There are 40 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages, and 137 surface . <br />water quality monitoring stations. <br /> <br />2 <br />