Dollars ready to improve water quality near the Big Sioux

BROOKINGS, S.D. (WNAX) — The legislature this year approved spending three million dollars on water quality improvement in and near the Big Sioux River.

Jay Gilbertson, manager of the East Dakota Water Development District in Brookings, says there is a lot of ground to cover in the watershed

Gilbertson says one option is to work with other ongoing river improvement projects

Gilbertson says the legislature hasn’t committed state dollars in the past

Gilbertson says they will continue working with landowners near the river that volunteer land to be converted to buffer strips to slow down runoff.