West Dam bill moves ahead

A bill asking for $1.5 million to help fund the reconstruction of West Dam is headed to the South Dakota Legislature’s Joint Bill Appropriations Committee with no recommendation as to whether or not to pass the bill following an introductory hearing on the bill last Thursday in Pierre.
The bill, HB1237, was filed by District 30 Rep. Tim Goodwin as its prime sponsor. At the bill’s initial hearing before the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, Goodwin, City of Custer Mayor Bob Brown, Fort Welikit owner Steve Saint, District 30 Rep. Trish Ladner and Lea Anne McWhorter all testified as proponents of the bill.
“These folks have been here a couple of times. They have gone back and done their due diligence and put a lot of work into it and did a lot of the recommendations we told them to do when they came before,” Goodwin told the committee.
Brown led off the testimony, giving a history of the dam, saying the dam was built as a source of water and fire suppression. Brown told about how the dam failed in 2012, and the state subsequently told the city it had to be reconstructed and that a patchwork solution would not work.
Brown said the city started to work to that end, but as more and more government entities became involved, he said, “everything was going backwards” until a couple of years ago when the project once again began to get traction.
“Last time we were here we were told we had to show more commitment, show some progress,” Brown said.
Brown said the city was able to reduce the total cost of the project, and said the city has allocated $1 million to the project and another $1.3 million has been raised from various donations. Brown and McWhorter also presented a slide show and touched on how the dam has been rated a high hazard dam by the state due to the city being downstream, and talked about the 2019 flood that came through town.
Fire suppression is a large reason for the need for West Dam, McWhorter said, and Brown said when the reservoir is full it will hold 73 acre-feet of water, which is 24 million gallons. There are also plans to construct two dry hydrants from which water could be obtained in case of fire. The reservoir will also be deep enough to accommodate a helicopter with bucket lifts.
McWhorter talked about the recent Wabash Springs Fire, and said having West Dam full could have assisted in fighting that fire.
“Custer is in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest, keep in mind,” she said. “West Dam could go a long way toward providing fire suppression to the Black Hills, Jewel Cave, Custer State Park—anything around here. We would really appreciate the opportunity to have that funded.”
District 30 Rep. Trish Ladner also spoke as a proponent of the dam, saying she has worked closely with the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources on the issue, while reminding the committee 2.1 million tourists went through Custer State Park last year.
“I’m proud Custer is raising money, and is doing what they were asked to do last year,” she said.
Saint told the committee via phone the people of the City of Custer and Custer County have worked hard to make the reconstruction of West Dam happen.
“It’s been devastating for the community not to have it,” he said.
Opposition testimony to the bill was given by Yolanda Sung of the state’s Bureau of Finance and Management, who said while she understands how important these outdoor spaces are to communities, the dam is owned by the City of Custer with a primary purpose of recreational opportunities. Sung said repair of the dam is the responsibility of the City of Custer, not the state.
“We believe general funds should be utilized to repair state-owned dams where the state holds responsibility and liabilities to keep structures in safe conditions before such requests are considered,” she said. Sung said there is also a litany of federal funding opportunities the city could pursue to help pay for the project.
“If this bill were to pass it would open the door for the state to fund similar city projects across the state in the future,” she said.
During his rebuttal time, Goodwin again said West Dam is strategic for fighting fire, and argued the City of Custer is one of the few in the state that could argue it gives enough money in sales tax to the state to make such a request, saying Custer is the fifth largest tax revenue generating city in the state.
“It actually is one of the few cities you could argue has return on investment,” he said. “These folks have matching funds, and have tried every avenue there is.”
During committee question time, committee chairman Marty Overweg asked whether or not the city had indeed pursued any federal grants, with Brown telling Overweg the city has, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has shown no interest in building dams. He said Custer County has received a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant, but that is being used for flood mitigation above the dam.
Rep. Drew Peterson said the presentation presented said the new dam will accommodate flows of 12,000 cubic feet per second, which is 10 times what came through the city in 2019. He said building a dam to survive that type of event likely costs more and asked why it is being built that way, with Brown saying the state has directed the specifications of the dam.
At the end of the questions, Goodwin said he would appreciate the bill being on the table if extra money is available toward the end of the session, while referencing the possibility of the proposed $182 million for a new penitentiary is not a slam dunk. However, late last week, revenue projections for the state grew even more dim, and talks of budget cuts were floated.
The bill was approved to move to the appropriations committee in a unanimous 13-0 vote.