Mitchell, Davison RWS still without agreement to hand off customers

Sam Fosness, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·4 min read

Apr. 23—MITCHELL — As the city is expanding its water capacity to position Mitchell for growth, there are some key areas where the city is restricted to serve water due to a small rural water provider having control over the territory.

Surrounding many areas next to city limits is territory belonging to Davison Rural Water Service, the nonprofit organization that serves water to many rural customers near Mitchell.

While Davison Rural Water has water service rights on properties it currently serves, there have been rare situations that Davison Rural Water is unable to meet the needs of existing customers who have plans to develop their land and would require more water.

According to city officials, the city of Mitchell is equipped to provide water to new customers in some areas where Davison Rural Water can't. However, Davison Rural Water officials must agree to allow the city to serve any existing Davison Rural Water customers.

In early April, the Mitchell City Council approved an agreement that establishes a formal process for the city to serve Davison Rural Water customers. Officials with Davison Rural Water have not responded to multiple requests for comment about the new water agreement and their capabilities to serve new developments.

"This is really more of an operational type of agreement in dealing with these rare cases where a development might be coming on a property that is currently being served by Davison Rural Water but the needs of the project exceeds what Davison is able to provide them," City Attorney Justin Johnson said of the agreement. "As part of the agreement, Davison would then have to agree to release that customer so the city can serve that proposed project."

For the agreement to go into effect, it must be signed by a Davison Rural Water representative. As of Tuesday, city officials said the agreement has yet to be signed.

As the city awaits a response, Mitchell Public Works Director Joe Schroeder emphasized the agreement is a positive step toward strengthening a working relationship between the city and the rural water provider.

"We are excited to be working with Davison Rural Water. They are our neighbors, and we need to work closely together to grow Mitchell," Schroeder said.

Davison Rural Water was serving 3,130 customers, equating to an average of 403,000 gallons of water per day, according to data in the 2023 Davison County Comprehensive Plan.

The water provider serves Aurora, Davison, Douglas and Sanborn counties, along with the communities of Letcher, Loomis and Mount Vernon with individual or bulk service.

The city of Mitchell serves roughly 5,650 customers with water provided by Tabor-based B-Y Water District. The city's maximum daily water capacity is 2.7 million gallons, but that will be expanding by 5 million gallons in the coming years after the council approved a $78 million agreement to line up Fort Randall Community Water District as a secondary water source.

Mayor Bob Everson said Mitchell's ability to grow hinges on the ability to provide adequate water for new homes and businesses.

"A city can't grow if it can't serve water to an influx of homes and new industry. That's why it was vital to expand our water capacity by entering into an agreement with Fort Randall," Everson said.

Over the past few months, there have been discussions among city leaders about whether the city can provide water to new customers within 3 miles outside of city limits in areas Davison Rural Water does not have any existing customers.

Everson said state law allows the city to serve new customers within 3 miles outside of city limits, as long as Davison Rural Water is not serving a customer in that respective area.

"That means if there is a new area no more than 3 miles outside of city limits being developed that Davison Rural Water doesn't currently serve, we can go and serve them water when the time comes, which state law allows," Everson explained. "We're not looking to go out and serve people in that 3-mile area, but we would certainly do that if a development or new manufacturer needed us to."

Johnson said the new agreement the council approved in April does not pertain to the broader territory where Davison Rural Water does not have existing customers. Discussions between the city and Davison Rural Water over the border 3-mile territory have been had, Johnson said.

Considering Mitchell has been exceeding its maximum daily water capacity more frequently in recent years, is the city equipped to handle a new housing development or businesses?

As part of the city's contract with B-Y Water District, the city can receive above the daily 2.7 millions gallons of water and pay an increased rate. In 2023, Terry Wootton, general manager of B-Y Water, told the Mitchell Republic that the water supplier was capable of providing the city with more water as demand increases.