WAWS Continues Quick Building Pace - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

WAWS Continues Quick Building Pace

In the midst of the battle over the western area water supply project, there is also a fight just to keep up with the water demands of the oil field and an exploding rural population.
Shaun Sipma has more what is being done to meet the Bakken water demand.

Water, it's essential for life and life in the oil rich Bakken in western North Dakota.

(Jaret Wirtz, Executive Director - Western Area Water Supply ) "We're seeing with direct connections to pipelines as people are putting in their own infrastructure in, we also have the depot needs out there, there's a need for the fracs as well as the production water they need to keep the oil wells going."

To keep the oil field in water, along with the municipal needs for the ever increasing population in oil country the Western Area Water Supply is building at a breakneck pace to get pipelines in, storage facilities built, and water depots running.

(Jaret Wirtz, Executive Director - Western Area Water Supply ) "It could be a million to two million gallons a day that could go through here."

With operators on sight, hooking up the water lines, and running the electronics keeping track of volume, it will take just 15 minutes to load a single semi load.

This depot north of Williston is just one extension of the WAWS project.
To the northwest on one of the highest plateaus in the region is the five million gallon Northwest Williston Reservoir.

(Russ Sorenson, Western Dakota Regional Manager) "This Reservoir is going to be one of the main storage facilities for the Western area water supply project which will gravity feed water about half to the city of Ray along Highway 2.

Stations that will feed water to people in Burke, Divide, Mountrail and Williams Counties.

(Russ Sorenson, Western Dakota Regional Manager)  "There will be ultimately six large reservoirs which range from a half million gallons to this one is five million gallons."

This concrete structure is just part of the backbone of the Western Area Water Supply Project.
The miles of pipeline and other storage facilities are set to be online and operational by late fall serving a large part of oil country both in the home and in the field.

North of Williston, Shaun Sipma KX News.

WAWS officials predict water will be delivered to most of the towns on its service list by the end of this year.