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Installing a water line for better quality and quantity of livestock water in the Loneman Project area. Photo by USDA NRCS South Dakota.

October 7, 2016

NRCS HELPS OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE MEMBERS GET RELIABLE LIVESTOCK WATER By Kayla Gahagan for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service South Dakota

PINE RIDGE – It’s from the small swell of a windswept prairie hilltop on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation that a herd of cows suspiciously eyes a tire-ringed water tank that will soon spring to life with fresh water. The 1600-gallon tank, located on leased land from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is part of construction on Phase I of the Loneman StrikeForce project. The project, which will pipe water off the Mni Wiconi rural water supply pipeline to designated land units for livestock, is funded by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The USDA’s StrikeForce program is part of President Obama’s initiative to address persistent poverty in parts of America. Launched in 2010, more than 1,500 partnerships between the USDA and local officials and community leaders have resulted in almost $24 million of investment in high-poverty rural areas in the U.S. The Loneman StrikeForce project, managed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), aims to solve one of the reservation’s most serious problems – lack of livestock water. “For most of the whole western half of the reservation, there’s no reliable livestock water sources,” said NRCS Resource Conservationist Tate Lantz, Rapid City, SD, which means financial hardship for the farmers and ranchers who rely on the income and livelihood of livestock and produce. Willard Clifford, of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Water Maintenance Department, said farmers and ranchers have few options. “You can’t drill any kind of well, so you’re dependent on stock dams or creeks that are inadequate,” he said. The first phase of Loneman, which will serve two range units, marks South Dakota’s first StrikeForce project and will cost an estimated $430,000. Construction kicked off this summer, with crews working on the first unit off the main Mni Wiconi pipeline just a stone’s throw from South Dakota Hwy. 18 near the Prairie Wind Casino. The individuals who lease the land from the Oglala Sioux Tribe will be responsible for maintaining the water lines and tanks. The project has plenty of oversight, said Lantz, including partnership with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Water Maintenance Department and the Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau of Reclamation designed and constructed the Mni Wiconi, which was specifically for human consumption. Because the pipeline was built over capacity, experts estimate that it will be able to accommodate the StrikeForce pipelines, which tribe officials have designated as strictly for livestock consumption. Lantz anticipates an increase in the number of proposals for StrikeForce projects, which could improve a diverse number of resource management issues across the state. The first round of money was issued in 2014. The NRCS received three proposals in 2015 and funded another seven proposals this year. A project like Loneman gets at the heart of the NRCS’s mission, Lantz said. The cows drink fresh, clean water and graze on the land. Their manure improves the soil, which improves the plant life, which improves their digestion and overall health. Healthier, heavier cows help the local economy. “We’re improving the land resource and the livestock is a tool to do that,” he said. Denise Mesteth, Director of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Land office, wrote the original grant proposal and said the project can only do good things for the reservation community. “The water is good, the grass is good and it increases the value of that land unit,” she said. For years, farmers and ranchers have hauled water to their land, or paid for a water line from another county – both laborious and costly. Mesteth said the Oglala Conservation District began work in 2002 to bring focus and attention to the resource needs on the reservation, water being number one. The local conservation district has a significant role with the locally led planning process which prioritizes resource concerns. “Together, we identified the range units that had water quality and quantity concerns,” she said. “Then, the district and local NRCS staff helped us through the conservation planning process which was key in preparing the Loneman application for conservation program funding.” Melvin Cummings has ranched on the reservation for 57 years. His land is not included in Phase I, and he hopes to see the program expand. “One of the biggest hold backs to having no water for your livestock is that if they don’t have water and are walking more than two miles to get to it, it’s 10 pounds off every calf,” he said. Tom Conroy, of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Conservation District, agreed and said the reality of drought is a constant struggle. “We’re made up of 85 percent of water,” he said. “It’s a source of life. If you don’t have water, you have nothing. This will be a tremendous help to the people.”