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January 1994

State Roundups
South Dakota

Two towns' schools keep communities afloat

A rural community's fate often rests on the fate of its schools. Two towns—Agar and Wessington—are optimistic about their schools and their communities' continuing viability.

Wessington, about 30 miles north of Huron, with fewer than 300 people, lost its school superintendent and his large family last year. That put the community in the position of losing state funding, which requires a minimum enrollment of 35 students.

Fearing the loss of the school district would sound the town's death knell, Naomi Reinhardt, vice president of the Bank of Wessington, took out an ad in Mother Earth News, a bimonthly periodical that touts rural living. The classified promoted Wessington as a child-oriented community with business and housing opportunities, as well as excellent hunting and fishing.

It worked. Following the classified ad in the April-May issue, Reinhardt received about 50 inquiries. After she and her husband appeared on a network television talk show, they received another 300 inquiries. Interested families were sent videotapes of the town "showing the good and the bad," Reinhardt says.

And by the end of July the Abbeys, with six children, moved in. Since then, another four families have arrived—bringing another dozen children for the Wessington school system from Chicago, Washington state, Florida and Georgia.

While a few of the new residents have found work in the area, jobs are not the attraction. Housing prices average between $10,000 and $20,000, and living expenses are generally low. Kathy Abbey opened a bakery in a nearby town but hopes to relocate to a Wessington storefront before too long; her husband, a computer specialist, volunteers at the high school and hopes to do some consulting. "It's a great place to live and go out at night and not worry," Abbey says.

Meanwhile, in Agar, 40 miles north of Pierre, the question was how to stop the exodus. Agar has only 82 residents, and Sully County, in which the town is located, lost over 20 percent of its population during the 1980s.

What Sully County does have is some of the state's most productive farm land, which generates high taxes. Agar, whose school district was closed in 1984, asked the state for special permission to reopen the high school and try something new.

To stem the tide of young people leaving the area and the state, the Prairie Economic Development Academy (PEDA) at Agar High School was formed. PEDA grooms future business entrepreneurs through a college preparatory curriculum, that also includes Latin.

The program was developed with the encouragement of the University of South Dakota (USD) Business School, which has established a scholarship fund for qualifying Agar students.

The school is run like a business: office furniture and individual cubicles replace traditional classrooms; school will be open an optional 40 extra days each school year; and students have access to a business incubator. Each student must create an individual business plan prior to graduation. "If they could start even one successful business that hires two people in Agar, it will be a giant step forward," says Robert Reinke, USD Business School associate dean.

Enrollment stands at seven. While that may sound low, George Levin, Agar school superintendent, says enrollment will be limited to eight to 10 students per class to retain the individualized education program.

Adults who want to enhance or develop their businesses also can take advantage of school and incubator facilities, which include shared office services, business consulting and adult education classes.

"We're trying to teach our students that they can make it in a business in South Dakota—they don't have to leave," Levin says.

—Kathy Cobb

Fresh water finally on tap for South Dakota residents

For about 240 homes on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and 87 ranch homes north of Wall, construction that began in 1992 on two local pipelines will bring them a resource that most homeowners take for granted: water.

The 70-mile pipeline through Pine Ridge and the 160-mile line north of Wall—funded through a $5 million congressional appropriation—are just the beginning, though, for southwest South Dakota. Congress recently appropriated an additional $10 million for the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project that, if expanded as planned, will serve over 50,000 people in a 12,500 square-mile region of the state, many of whom now haul their own water.

Initially approved by Congress in 1988 as an $87.5 million project to serve over 30,000 people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and nine additional counties, amendments to the existing law call for expansion to the Rosebud and Lower Brule reservations, and to areas west of the Missouri River known as the Lyman-Jones and West River service areas.

Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the original Mni Wiconi project is now at $105 million, according to Mike Kurle, manager of the West River/Lyman-Jones project. And according to the project's engineering report, the total cost of the expanded project would exceed $250 million.

Most of that funding will come from the federal government, according to Kurle. Construction, operation and maintenance costs for the portion on the three Indian reservations are a federal responsibility and will be covered 100 percent. The construction of the non-Indian portion will be covered by federal funds at 65 percent, with local users paying the remaining 35 percent, in addition to operation and maintenance.

Without the participation of the Indian reservations and the attendant appropriation of federal funds, the project would never be built, Kurle says. Area residents had been trying for years to get water pumped from the Oahe Reservoir on the Missouri River, he says, but it was never economically feasible. "There were not enough bodies to make it work."

The reason for the pipeline system, which will pump about 10 million gallons of water a day through 4,351 miles of pipe, is obvious, according to Kurle: "There is either no water or the water is unfit for human consumption." According to the engineer's report, some existing water supplies not only pose health risks for humans, but are also unfit for livestock.

Kurle says ranchers must dig 3,000-foot wells, at a cost of up to $40,000, just to find potable water for cattle. The towns of Belvedere and Kadoka each drilled $300,000 wells last year and the water is often undrinkable, Kurle says.

Congress is expected to address the issue of expanding the Mni Wiconi project early this year, after which construction will begin.

—David Fettig