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Worth Waiting for

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Twenty-six years later, Luverne celebrates arrival of Lewis and Clark water
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By
Lori Sorenson

Good things come to those who wait, and Luverne is expecting some really great things from the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System.
A ribbon-cutting event Monday celebrated the arrival of Missouri River water in Luverne, and it was a chance to look back on the 26-year process that brought it here.
Red Arndt, an honored guest at Monday’s event, was part of the system’s early start in 1990 when he was Luverne’s water and wastewater supervisor.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time — 26 years,” he told a small gathering of dignitaries under a tent near the Lewis and Clark meter building by the city power plant.
“We finally have water that will sustain the growth of Luverne for years to come and that will enable my kids and grandkids to stay here and have jobs here that are enabled by water.”
He said he remembers when southeast South Dakota officials were first talking about the regional water system in 1990.
“They wondered if some Minnesota communities were interested, and we were,” said Arndt, who is now chairman of the Lewis and Clark Board.
Monday’s celebration was almost as much about Arndt’s contributions as it was about the project itself.
“Red is the person who during those many ups and downs was always saying, ‘We just need to keep the faith. It’ll get done.’ His dogged determination is legendary,” said Troy Larson, Lewis and Clark director.
He estimated Arndt made over 50 trips to Washington, D.C, and over 50 trips to St. Paul. “That’s remarkable,” Larson said.
“Red often said he wanted to taste the first Lewis and Clark water that arrived in Luverne.”
He then summoned Arndt to the podium and offered him a bottle of water. “The water in this bottle is the very first water that came through the faucet in the meter house once we received the test results,” Larson said.
Arndt accepted the bottle and gulped down a few swallows.
He also accepted a nameplate that dedicates the Luverne meter house in his honor. It says, “In honor of Lennis ‘Red’ Arndt, Lewis and Clark Regional Water System chairman.”
Gov. Mark Dayton was on Monday’s celebratory agenda, but dense fog that morning prevented his flight to Luverne.
“I am terribly sorry that air travel conditions have prevented me from being in Luverne today,” he said in a statement released later that day.
“This project is critically important to the people and businesses in the Luverne area. I congratulate everyone who has worked so hard to make it a reality.”
All the speakers at Monday’s dedication praised Dayton for his support of the project — particularly for including critical funding in his 2014 bonding bill.
Larson said keeping state and federal legislators on board is part of what makes the Lewis and Clark project such a feat.
“We often say when it comes to Lewis and Clark, nothing is easy, but blazing a new trail never is,” he said.
“We tend to lose sight of the fact that Lewis and Clark is the first of its kind in the entire nation — a wholesale water partnership among the federal government, three states and 20 local entities.”
Mayor Pat Baustian called it a “huge accomplishment” to finally receive Lewis and Clark water in Luverne.
He said he’d been trying to think of a single word that would sum up the occasion.
“Momentous,” Baustian said. “It means ‘of great importance or significance, especially in its bearing on the future.’
“I think the event today — for everyone 25 years ago and today — is a momentous occasion, especially in terms of its bearing on the future. I don’t think anyone here can argue the effect this will have on our future.”
 
Lewis and Clark at a glance:
The multi-year, $577 million project delivers water from the Missouri River aquifer near Vermillion, South Dakota, to communities in Iowa, South Dakota and southwest Minnesota that don’t have reliable water sources of their own.
Lewis and Clark construction started in 2003 and is about 75 percent complete.
Minnesota construction started in February 2015 to extend the pipeline 18 miles from the Iowa border to Luverne. Another 10-mile segment will be built from Luverne to Magnolia.
From there, it’s another 12 miles to the Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water System’s connection near Adrian and 27 miles to Worthington.
Lewis and Clark will bring up to 821,000 gallons per day of treated water from the Missouri River aquifer to Luverne.
Rock County Rural Water has reserved 300,000 gallons per day and is already receiving that water.
Worthington and Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water System have yet to be connected.
The project is being paid for with federal, state and local money, but the slow pace of funding from the federal government has limited progress.
The federal government authorized the project in 2000 and has since contributed $220 million, but still owes $203 million.
The three states and the local partners have paid 100 percent of their share — $154 million.
In 2014 the project received $22 million in Minnesota money in order to continue building the pipeline over the border. The state approved another $19 million federal funding advance in 2015.
The state will be reimbursed when the additional federal money comes through. The same is true for any future state funding.

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