After 20 years' planning, construction has started on the $550m Lewis & Clark Regional Water System in the USA, which will serve more than 300,000 people and supplement their existing water supply.
The 337-mile water project is the product of a partnership between 15 cities and five rural water districts in South Dakota, Iowa and south-western Minnesota.
A water treatment plant north of Vermillion and a pair of 7.5 million gallon reservoirs near Tea are being constructed and 90 miles of pipe have been laid.
This spring, work will begin on a 3 million gallon water tower south of Sioux Falls, which claims to be the largest in the USA.
By 2012, the new water system will send 34 million gallons of treated water a day to customers in Sioux Falls, Tea, Harrisburg, Minnehaha Community Water Corp, Lincoln County Rural Water System, Parker, Lennox, Centerville, Beresford and the South Lincoln Regional Water System.
The system's largest customer Sioux Falls will receive 11 million gallons now, and when the project reaches its full capacity of 45 million gallon it will receive 28 million gallons a day.
The water project has recently received a final $6.3m commitment from the state House Appropriations Committee. The state contributed a total of $31.9m towards the project funds, according to Associated Press.
Funds have been secured from 19 of the 20 member communities, including the states of Minnesota and Iowa.
Lewis & Clark Regional Water System's executive director Troy Larson said the rest of the money was coming from the federal government, so Congress's 2011 budget appropriation would be key to the project.
President Barack Obama's administration has proposed $2m for the system in the 2011 budget, while officials are hoping for an appropriation of around $27m.
