Funds drying up over 'pipe to nowhere' worries
TEA, S.D. (AP) -- A South Dakota water official says a slowdown in federal money could make a regional water supply project a "pipe to nowhere."
The Lewis & Clark regional water system is designed to supply water to about 300,000 people in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.
Construction administrator Dan Zulkosky says the project needs $35 million a year to stay on schedule. It's getting $5 million this year.
Zulkosky says the project won't be finished until 2020, and construction could take much longer if federal money slows down. He says officials worry the system will become "a pipe to nowhere."
The $5 million will be used to lay down three miles of new pipe in Lyon County, Iowa. It will also be spent on tools, equipment, security fencing and vehicles.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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