West Central Regional Water District presents master plan progress, asks counties to consider short‑term funding

Representatives of the West Central Regional Water District on Feb. 11 briefed the Clay County Board of Commissioners on a regional effort to create a long‑term water supply for rural communities across parts of Clay, Norman and Polk counties, and requested that counties consider short‑term stopgap funding to preserve momentum while additional grant agreements are finalized.

Lucas Spieth, board chair of the West Central Regional Water District and Halstad municipal utility superintendent, and Steven Slick of AE2S (engineering consultant) reviewed the district’s formation and the engineering and funding steps completed to date. They said the district has secured about $3.5 million in federal EPA grants for master planning and early design work and reported additional pending grant requests totaling roughly $750,000. Local projects and cities have also secured or applied for funding in support of future hookups; AE2S reported roughly $2.4 million secured locally by regional cities for infrastructure related to the district.

Why it matters: The district would serve small cities and rural residents who often rely on private…