FORT PIERRE, S.D.(DRGNews)- The City of Fort Pierre has had a preliminary discussion with the Bureau of Reclamation about replacing the main Mni Wiconi water line that supplies the town’s water source, as well as Waldron Street.

Mayor Gloria Hanson says surveying has begun, but the work won’t start until 2025.

Hanson says they’ll meet with the Bureau of Reclamation folks early next year.

Meanwhile, as part of an effort to secure a source of water for the town in the future, Fort Pierre has become a member of the West Dakota Water Development District. Hanson says they continue to have conversations with those folks.

West River Lyman Jones Rural Water is Fort Pierre’s current water supplier, but they’ve given the town notice that it needs to find a different source for water. Fort Pierre has nine years left on that contract.

In October, the Fort Pierre City Council heard a presentation from the Executive Director of the Western Dakota Regional Water System, the group that manages the WDWDD. At that time, Dr. Cheryl Chapman said they were checking into the possibility of having the intake for the system at a facility that was built for the Oahe Irrigation Project 50-some years ago. She said the structure near the Oahe Dam at Pierre and Fort Pierre was built, but never used.