More than $14 million in federal economic recovery funds have been approved and construction is ready to move ahead on water projects in the cities of Ryder and Makoti, rural areas in western McLean and Ward counties, in eastern McKenzie County, and two other water projects in North Dakota, said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

North Central Rural Water Consortium, McKenzie County Water District, Cass Rural Water District and the City of Zeeland have signed cooperative agreements with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and are ready to begin construction on their water supply projects, Dorgan said.

The funding includes:

$5.3 million for North Central Rural Water District, with $3.1 million for its expansion to the cities of Ryder and Makoti and more than $2 million for rural areas of western McLean and Ward counties.

$4.8 million for the McKenzie County Water Supply System.

$3.8 million for the Cass Rural Users District to build pipeline to the cities of Casselton, Kindred, Mapleton and Davenport,

$230,000 for the City of Zeeland to replace its aging existing water main.

The Ryder and Makoti Water Supply System funding will be used by North Central Rural Water Consortium, based in Minot, to construct a new water transmission pipeline, concrete storage facility and pump station to send treated water to the cities of Ryder and Makoti, and nearby adjacent rural residents of Ward County.

Currently, the City of Ryder gets its water from a well near the town but the water has too much arsenic in it by Environmental Protection Agency standards. In an election held Aug. 17, Ryder water users voted to allow the city to contract with North Central Rural Water Consortium for the purchase of water for public distribution.

The water project will provide a high-quality and reliable water service for domestic needs to rural users and the two communities.

Funding for the Western McLean and Ward Counties Water Supply System will be used by North Central Rural Water Consortium to build new water transmission pipelines to provide treated water to rural residents of western McLean and Ward counties. Currently, the area has no public water supply and individual wells have poor water quality with high levels of iron, manganese, sodium and in some areas arsenic. The project will provide a reliable source of quality potable water for these rural residents.

The $4.8 million for the McKenzie County Water Supply System will be used by McKenzie County Water Resource District to construct distribution pipelines, a storage reservoir, and pumping stations.

Jaret Wirtz, manager of the McKenzie County Water Resource District, said the project will be done in eastern McKenzie County, including for rural residents and for an industrial area, mainly Hess Corp., in the Keene-Charlson area. He said the pre-engineering work is almost complete and they expect to bid the project in late October/early November. He said they hope construction can start possibly this fall, depending on the weather, and if not at that time then in the spring. He said about 150 rural residents have signed up to connect to the system. He said the water will be purchased from Fort Berthold Rural Water.

McKenzie County is experiencing tremendous growth county-wide, and declining flow rates and pressures and depletion of groundwater resources have resulted in unreliable water service and degraded water quality in many areas, forcing many residents to haul water for their basic needs, according to Dorgan. The water project will provide a high-quality and reliable water service for domestic needs, and will provide economic development by providing water service for commercial and industrial interests, and will mitigate impacts to groundwater resources.

Dorgan, who chairs the subcommittee in the U.S. Senate that funds the Corps, added water development funding in the recovery bill earlier this year. The funding has allowed rural water districts across the state to begin plans for infrastructure improvements that will provide a clean and reliable water service to thousands of North Dakota residents.