Thomas Daschle: “today I am proud to introduce legislation to expand the Mni Wiconi rural water project to include the Rosebud and Lower…”

“today I am proud to introduce legislation to expand the Mni Wiconi rural water project to include the Rosebud and Lower Brule Sioux Reservations. Water is a basic requirement of life. For too long both Indian and non-Indian people in this region of the State have suffered the public health risks that come from inadequate and contaminated water supplies. It is my hope that, with the construction of the Mni Wiconi rural water project, including those areas that would be added with this legislation, many of the water quality problems of the past can be solved, and the people relying on this project can have their hopes for a better life fulfilled. The Mni Wiconi project represents an important partnership between Indian and non-Indian communities who share common needs. In authorizing the project in 1988, Congress recognized that "serious problems in water quantity and water quality exist in the rural counties of Haakon, Jackson, Jones, Lyman, Mallette, Pennington, and Stanley Counties." Given those water quality problems, Congress further noted in the act that the residents of these counties deserve "the best available, reliable, and safe rural and municipal water supply." For those counties, the Mni Wiconi project will accomplish that purpose. It will provide a source of safe and clean water that is long overdue in this region of the State.”