Post by L Roebuck on Sept 1, 2007 7:16:24 GMT -5
Wind Cave worried about deep lakes
Well project on hold; negotiations with Hot Springs continue
By Kevin Woster, Journal.com
The search for domestic water in the always-thirsty southern Black Hills has Wind Cave National Park officials worried about protecting lakes that exist in darkness 500 feet below the surface.
It also has the directors for the Southern Black Hills Water Systems negotiating with the city of Hot Springs for another source that could avoid the potential conflict with Wind Cave.
And guessing the outcome right now is as difficult as predicting when the next good rain will fall in western South Dakota.
“It’s a stay-tuned thing, definitely,” Hot Springs public works engineer Tracy Bastian said Friday. “There’s nothing definite. It’s all pretty sensitive.”
That sensitivity begins with the growing need for water for rural residents in an area where moisture doesn’t come easily or often. So the search often goes underground. And the Southern Black Hills Water Systems Board initially proposed sinking a well near the headwaters of Beaver Creek, not far from Wind Cave National Park.
It’s a proven area of good-quality water and productivity, but it also had the potential to affect the deep, dark lakes in Wind Cave, as well as irrigators and a trout farm downstream on Beaver Creek.
Rod Horrocks, a physical science specialist for Wind Cave National Park, said computer models based on the water-use application to the state by the Southern Black Hills Water Board showed a clear threat to deep lakes in Wind Cave.
Full Article
Well project on hold; negotiations with Hot Springs continue
By Kevin Woster, Journal.com
The search for domestic water in the always-thirsty southern Black Hills has Wind Cave National Park officials worried about protecting lakes that exist in darkness 500 feet below the surface.
It also has the directors for the Southern Black Hills Water Systems negotiating with the city of Hot Springs for another source that could avoid the potential conflict with Wind Cave.
And guessing the outcome right now is as difficult as predicting when the next good rain will fall in western South Dakota.
“It’s a stay-tuned thing, definitely,” Hot Springs public works engineer Tracy Bastian said Friday. “There’s nothing definite. It’s all pretty sensitive.”
That sensitivity begins with the growing need for water for rural residents in an area where moisture doesn’t come easily or often. So the search often goes underground. And the Southern Black Hills Water Systems Board initially proposed sinking a well near the headwaters of Beaver Creek, not far from Wind Cave National Park.
It’s a proven area of good-quality water and productivity, but it also had the potential to affect the deep, dark lakes in Wind Cave, as well as irrigators and a trout farm downstream on Beaver Creek.
Rod Horrocks, a physical science specialist for Wind Cave National Park, said computer models based on the water-use application to the state by the Southern Black Hills Water Board showed a clear threat to deep lakes in Wind Cave.
Full Article