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State board considers boosting James River pumping rights as yearly flow rises 300% • South Dakota Searchlight [1]
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Date: 2024-10-02
A state board is reviewing a draft plan to increase water pumping rights on the James River, which has experienced a nearly 300% increase in its annual flow since the late 1990s.
The state Water Management Board discussed a draft of the proposal during a remote conference meeting on Wednesday.
“Climate is the likely dominant force causing the increase in the streamflow,” said Brittan Hullinger, a state natural resources engineer. “There have been increases in mean precipitation in every South Dakota county the James River runs through.”
She said those precipitation increases range from 8% to 17% when comparing data from 1901 to 1960 with data from 1991 to 2023. The region has multi-decade fluctuations between wet and dry periods, so “this may only be one wet period within a larger cycle, which goes to say the increased streamflow may not continue into the future.”
Nevertheless, Hullinger said the state Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources recommends board approval of additional water rights beyond the maximum total of 300 cubic feet per second for all appropriations, established in 1965. The draft does not suggest a new cap on water rights, but recommends the current one should be increased.
The James River originates in North Dakota and flows slowly through eastern South Dakota across mostly flat land to the Missouri River.
There are currently 116 water rights or permits and two future-use permits on the river in South Dakota, appropriating or reserving 298.92 cubic feet per second of the 300 cfs limit. Demand for more agricultural water rights and the increase in mean annual river streamflow prompted the state’s Water Rights Program to reassess its James River management plan.
“Is this from global warming?” asked Board Chairman James Hutmacher.
“Generally, yes, but how much of it is human-caused is unknown,” Hullinger replied.
Other streams in eastern South Dakota are also experiencing higher annual streamflow, prompting concern among experts who point to climate change and land-use alterations as contributing factors to more severe flooding.
Some researchers attribute the surge to higher precipitation, urban development that sends rainfall running across concrete and asphalt into streams, expanding tile drainage systems under farmland that drain excess moisture into local creeks and rivers, and the conversion of grassland to cropland, which causes higher runoff.
“However, several studies that have associated land-use changes with higher streamflows had flawed methodology and additional analysis has shown that increased precipitation is the main driver of increased streamflows,” the draft report reads.
Yet, the draft report goes on to say that “only a handful of counties in eastern South Dakota have a drain tile permit program, meaning there is not a temporal or spatial record of tile drainage in the state and thus difficult to determine the extent to which tiling may have increased flow.”
The Water Management Board’s authority comes from South Dakota law, which requires that water resources be used for maximum beneficial purposes without waste. The board is responsible for issuing water rights permits and modifying their qualifications as necessary, without jeopardizing the health of water sources.
The draft James River report will soon be shared with the public and opened for comment.
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