FORT PIERRE — After months of delays, Fort Pierre residents may be about to finally get the rural water they voted for in November.

The city and West River/Lyman-Jones Rural Water System have cleared obstacles from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the federal Bureau of Reclamation and expect the water to come on in a matter of days.

“We can assure people that in the next few days we’ll have the wrinkles ironed out,” Mayor Sam Tidball said. “We appreciate their patience in waiting for the water, but we know it’ll be a great addition to the community.”

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Fort Pierre residents paid higher water rates in January designed in part to cover the higher cost of rural water, as well as compensate for rising costs of the city’s water system.

“We thought we were setting the rate to coincide with getting the water turned on, but there were some unforeseen delays,” he said. “We were a little short in our water department fund balance. The rates had to go up some anyway.”

The city council approved the deal with West River/Lyman Jones in September. The deal’s implementation was delayed first by a citizen referendum in November, in which voters approved the deal 351-210.

In December, the city council delayed the higher rates until Jan. 1 after being told they needed to wait for a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

DENR natural resources engineer Eric Gronlund said the department issued West River/Lyman Jones a permit to sell to Fort Pierre on Jan. 20 after no one filed petitions opposing the deal.

After that, the federal Bureau of Reclamation asked the city to delay turning on the pipes. The Bureau oversees the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project, which provides treated water to West River/Lyman-Jones and the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Lower Brule reservations.

“We’ve asked West River/Lyman-Jones to just give us a few days to make sure any other sponsors understand what this contract is about and to assure them that there’s plenty of water in the system to handle Fort Pierre and everybody else,” said Dennis Breitzman, area manager for the Dakotas office of the Bureau.

“I’m expecting that water will be turned on in Fort Pierre very quickly — if not this week, the early part of next week.”

While waiting for the bureau to give an OK, Tidball said the city and West River/Lyman Jones are installing an automated valve to regulate the flow of water into the city water system.

“We’re ready, and we’re waiting for that valve to be installed, which we hope will be done this week,” Tidball said. “They have the valve now and are getting organized.”

Once the water does turn on, it may take a few days for old water to be fully flushed from the system.

“We were hoping to have it turned on before this,” Tidball said. “We’re getting there.”