"Piping water hundreds of miles across the South Dakota prairie never will be easy. When you think about it, it's a wonder that water pipelines work at all.

Case in point: The Mni Wiconi project set out two decades ago to pipe river water to 50,000 South Dakotans. Today, it reached the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Treatment plants, miles of pipe, stops in three reservations and negotiating with countless landowners - it was a massive undertaking.

Sometimes, though, the obstacles aren't just for engineers to overcome. Expensive, long-term projects, as pipelines inevitably are, tend to stutter-step based on the vagaries of the federal budget process.

That's what has happened with the Lewis & Clark Regional Water pipeline, which is part of the way down the long road Mni Wiconi traveled. Every year is a struggle for money, and this year was no different.

But the eventual, hard-won success of Mni Wiconi bodes well for Lewis & Clark in two ways."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Mni Wiconi success boosts Lewis & Clark (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 8/20)

Related Stories:
Mni Wiconi project reaches Pine Ridge Reservation (8/19)
Budget reduces funds for Mni Wiconi water project (2/5)
Omnibus includes $28M for Mni Wiconi water project (12/20)
Editorial: Oglala Sioux Tribe still waiting on water (11/2)
South Dakota water project gets extra funds (3/20)
South Dakota Indians praise Sen. Johnson's work (12/15)
Reservation water project seeks more funds (5/26)
Pine Ridge Reservation awaits water system hookup (11/16)
Editorial: Bush budget cuts 'unacceptable' (2/11)
Bush budget cuts funds for S.D. water project (2/7)
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