In the wake of a deluge, the next 48 hours will be crucial for not only Sioux Falls, but also the health of the Big Sioux River.

Mayor Paul TenHaken signed an executive order to issue an emergency declaration Saturday after days of persistent precipitation inundated the city, along with southeastern South Dakota as a whole, with significant amounts of rainfall.

This will allow the city to skip the bid process to hire contractors and procure equipment to more quickly respond to the flood situation.

In a 7 a.m. virtual press conference Saturday hosted by Gov. Kristi Noem, TenHaken told reporters the city’s retention ponds, used specifically in flood events, were all at capacity.

As the city’s wastewater system undergoes the “most strain the system has ever had,” as TenHaken described during the presser, the mayor urged residents to limit water usage as the city’s wastewater system undergoes the 

“We have thousands of people depending on this system,” TenHaken said. “We need people to limit their wastewater use right now, and that means limiting doing loads of laundry. If you can avoid a shower today, that will be great. If you can avoid anything that puts capacity or strain on the system, it will be an incredible benefit to what we’re seeing right now.”

Hours later, Marc Cotter, the city’s director of public works, elaborated on the capacity issues during a 10:30 a.m. press conference held at the city’s Public Safety Campus. He told reporters the Sioux Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant ran out of storage for excess wastewater in the system.

Gov. Noem, state officials say eastern SD river levels expected to peak Monday and Tuesday

As a result, plant operators were forced to discharge untreated wastewater into the Big Sioux River at 7:15 a.m. Saturday.

This decision was a “last resort,” Cotter emphasized. The wastewater plant’s inflow was measured at about 45 million gallons per day Saturday, Cotter said, while about 34 million gallons per day were diverted into storage basins.

Collectively, that’s about four times the normal amount of water the plant typically sees, the publics work director estimated.

A “significant amount” of the excess water is comprised of rainwater and groundwater, Cotter explained.

“The state also knows that, so when we test the river, upstream and downstream, we expect to see, you know, a significant amount of dilution that occurs with that,” Cotter said. “But it is always our last resort. We’ll only do it for the minimum amount of time that’s required until the system catches up.”

Cotter said the last time the city had to discharge raw wastewater was in 2010. He called it a “very uncommon” event.

There’s a safety rationale behind the decision, since releasing the excess water quickly was meant to protect property and keep wastewater out of neighborhoods, Cotter explained.

“The large storage systems that we’ve built for days like this, you know, those have also been great assets for us up until this point, and they’ve worked really good for this event, but just the peak of this just wasn’t enough,” Cotter said.

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Asked how officials will respond if the city’s flood contingencies continue to stay at or surpass capacity, the public works head told the Argus Leader they’re reliant on a current National Weather Service that’s favoring sunshine and drier weather later Saturday through early next week.

In any event, they’ll “adapt accordingly,” Cotter said.

“If things were to change, our systems are, we’ve been managing this on an hour by hour basis …,” he said. “But I think we all are looking forward to the sun coming out and starting to dry this place out.”

The flooding has also given rise to rescue events, City Emergency Management Director Regan Smith told reporters.

Since Friday morning, Smith said there have been nine water rescues in Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County, all of which were successful.

In the same region, Smith said there have also been five calls for stranded motorists, 30 for vehicles stalled in water, 10 regarding water problems and 75 traffic accidents.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – On Saturday morning, Governor Kristi Noem held a press briefing where she provided an update on continued storms and flooding across the state.

The Governor said that while the rain may be stopping, the bigger issues are set to arrive on Monday and Tuesday.

“The James River, which again will crest on Monday or Tuesday. Big Sioux will crest Tuesday at 7:00 a.m., that’s gonna set a record for us. It’ll be around 38.4. And then the Vermillion River at 30 foot. Again on Tuesday, we’ll crest sometime that morning. So that’s really when we’re gonna see the bulk of that water moving through the system and we’re working to be prepared for that,” said Gov. Noem.

Noem also advised residents impacted by the floods to immediately contact their insurance, which will help determine if the state can call a declaration for disaster.

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SOUTH DAKOTA, S.D. (KELO) – Flooded fields are a common sight all around southeastern South Dakota after this week’s rain.

Now farmers are dealing with the aftermath as even more storms are forecasted.

We found flooded farmland that now looks more like a river just outside of Davis in Turner County. The owners of the land say their pumpkin patch and sweet corn fields are all under water after more than eight inches of rain fell.

Some farmhouses in rural South Dakota are now completely surrounded by water with silos and barns on islands of their own near Viborg.

Over in Yankton County, you can hardly tell where the boundaries of the James River are in one field.

It’s not just flooded fields that some farmers are having to deal with, one farmer near Lesterville in Yankton County has had some issues because of a rising creek.

“Our creeks are full, you know,” farmer Daniel Kubal said. “We’re a little concerned with livestock out there, it did sweep away a baby calf yesterday for us and, you know, it can be devastating when you’re dealing with livestock in these high creeks and things like that.”

Kubal says the flooding he’s seeing isn’t as bad as farms to the north of him, but he’s made sure his cattle are moved up to higher ground to prepare for the next rounds of rain.

“Rain is good, it’s hard to turn away, you know,” Kubal said. “You just kind of got to go with it. We know what it’s like when we don’t have it. It’s a blessing when you do and sometimes you just get way more than you need. You just learn to deal with it.”

The farmer I spoke with in Davis, South Dakota, says it’s been about four years since they’ve seen rain this heavy.