Multi-State Pipeline Nears Endpoint In Minnesota

WORTHINGTON (AP) — A pipeline project decades in the making that will provide water to more than 300,000 customers in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota is nearing completion.

Work on the Lewis and Clark pipeline is nearing its endpoint in Worthington. Officials say the pipe should be connected to the city next fall.

The stalled pipeline has caused problems for communities and rural water supply systems for years as the region struggled with on-and-off drought and had to stretch existing water supplies.

Work on the line halted in 2013 because of a lack of funding. The federal government agreed to pay 80 percent of the project's cost almost 20 years ago. The money has been doled out slowly, which has slowed the pace of construction.