Drought forces suspension of some water rights

April 2006

U.S. Water News Online

PIERRE, S.D. -- Dry conditions have forced the state of South Dakota to issue shutoff orders to 54 irrigators on the Cheyenne River and tributaries upstream of Angostura Reservoir near Hot Springs.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has a more senior water right -- dating to 1941 -- that allows the reservoir to fill to provide irrigation water to the Angostura Irrigation District, according to the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Because Angostura is less than half full, the Bureau of Reclamation asked that state permits for other water uses be suspended so all available water flows into the reservoir, the DENR said.

It is the third straight year that drought-related shutoff orders were issued. They apply to irrigation, municipal uses or commercial uses but not to domestic uses such as livestock watering.


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