"Water is Life"
The Mni Wiconi Water Treatment Plant/Coreline is dedicated to providing safe, quality drinking water to the Oglala Sioux Rural Water Supply System Project, for the present and future generations to come.
The vision of the Mni Wiconi Project was to improve the quality of drinking water, improve public health, prosperity, and provide employment opportunities for the region. This vision has now become a reality, as the project has been in full operation delivering water since May of 2002.
The Mni Wiconi Water Treatment Plant/Coreline provides potable water to a vast area, spanning ten counties in central and southwest South Dakota through the Oglala Sioux Rural Water Supply System. It is the largest Native American/Tribal Water System in the United States. The service area includes a 12,500 square mile area, equivalent to one-sixth the total area of South Dakota.
The Mni Wiconi WTP/Coreline is a wholesale operation, pumping the water directly out of the Missouri River. It is chemically treated and distributed through the core system supplying three Tribal Reservations and one non-Tribal entity. Included are Oglala Sioux Tribe Rural Water System, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Rural Water System, Rosebud Sioux Tribe Rural Water System, and West River/Lyman-Jones Rural Water Systems. They in turn, deliver and maintain their systems, on an individual basis with their customers.
