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lewis and clark water arrives in rock county

By
lori sorenson

Rock County Rural Water began receiving water last week from the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System, becoming the 12th member connected to L&C.
The water, which is piped from the Missouri River aquifer, officially arrived in Rock County with the completion of a meter building on the Minnesota-Iowa border south of Hills, which gets its water from Rural Water.
“Many of our longtime directors and customers wondered if this day would ever come,” said Rock County Rural Water Manager Brent Hoffmann.
“We have faced many hurdles in maintaining consistent water flow and quality.”
He referenced drought in 2013 and then record flooding in June of 2014, as well as continually tightening federal and state restrictions on developing additional water sources.
“This only highlights the importance of having interconnections with other water providers” Hoffmann said. “The days of going it alone are a thing of the past. Being connected to Lewis & Clark is a huge boost.”
Rural water, which is overseen by the Rock County Commission, has reserved 300,000 gallons a day.  However, it will only access half its capacity at this connection, with the other half at a future second connection at Magnolia.
Lewis and Clark Chairman Red Arndt, Luverne, has been involved with the Lewis and Clark planning efforts for 25 years.
“Congratulations to the Rock County Commission and Rock County Rural Water District on this long awaited day,” Arndt said.
“Having access to Lewis & Clark water will open many opportunities for the system and its customers. We couldn’t be happier for them.”
 
Contract awarded for meter buildings
The Lewis & Clark Regional Water System’s Board of Directors awarded a $1,036,000 contract last week to Robert L. Carr Construction of Marshall to construct meter buildings at Luverne and Magnolia.
December 2015 is the substantial completion deadline, at which time Luverne will begin receiving Lewis & Clark water. 
The Magnolia meter building will eventually provide connections for the Rock County Rural Water District and the Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water System.
However, the contract for construction of the pipeline between Luverne and Magnolia will not be awarded until this fall. 
Eight members remain to be connected to the Lewis and Clark system, which will eventually serve 20 member communities and water systems.
In addition to Luverne, the other non-connected members include Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water, and the cities of Worthington, Hull, Sheldon, Sibley, Sioux Center and Madison (South Dakota).

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