It's another sign of the growth in the oil patch.
The state Water Commission has approved an expansion of the Western Area Water Supply project. That project will bring Missouri River water to residents and businesses in the patch.
As originally proposed to the 2011 Legislature, the project would be able to borrow up to $110 million from the Bank of North Dakota. Because of population growth, the project has grown to $119-million. The extra $9 million dollars will be paid for directly from users.
"The way I look at is, if it's residential municipal use, large numbers of small users, and they'll have their own money, I guess I don't know why we would stand in the way of that," said Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who chairs the Water Commission.
Commissioner Harley Swenson of Bismarck said he agreed with Dalrymple.
"It's nice to see an industrial use being proposed by Basin Electric is going to contribute a significant amount of money towards expansion," said Swenson. "If we do not accept that sort of thing, we're restricting service to people, industries and users that actually need service. We don't want to be in that position, I don't believe."
Project officials also said there may be a need to further expand Williston's water treatment plant. Plans are to expand the plant from 10 million gallons per day to 14 million. And the officials said it may need to be expanded to 20 million.
