BROOKINGS, S.D.(KJJQ)- After years of construction and funding fights, the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System is nearing completion. Water from wells near the Missouri River is currently being delivered to 17 cities.

Executive Director Troy Larson says they were fortunate to get funding through the federal infrastructure bill which significantly increased the pace of construction.

Larson says they’re now expanding to increase the daily flow of water, currently at about 21-million gallons. He says the expansion is coming sooner than expected, sparked by growth and the drought.

In addition, other projects are in the planning stages to utilize water from the Missouri River. He says four are in the works. One, called Dakota MainStem, would include Brookings.

And, he says, Lewis and Clark is looking at a further expansion — Lewis and Clark II — which could possibly double their maximum capacity to 120-million gallons a day.