The projected cost for Lewis & Clark as described in the Feasibility Study is $272.8 million in 1993 dollars. A combination of federal, state, and local funding will be used for this project. Each state has passed legislation funding 10% of the project based on the reserved capacity in their state. Local project members will fund an additional 10% of the project. The federal government will fund the remaining 80%, except in Sioux Falls, where the federal cost-share is 50% of the incremental costs.

Federal grant funds for construction of the project were authorized in the Lewis & Clark Rural Water System Act that became law in July 2000 (P.L. 106-246 can be viewed under the Technical Information link). The Act authorized federal grant funds in the amount of $213,887,700, indexed for inflation to FY93. The baseline for the total federal cost share amount as established by the Act will be reflected in appropriate engineering cost indices after 1993 on an annual basis.

According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the projected appropriation ceiling for the project from all sources of funding is $462,253,000 (indexed for FY09). Of this amount, the federal share is $362,073,000 and the non-federal share is $100,180,000. This does not include 100 percent of the incremental costs the local members are paying to expand the System from 23.5 million gallons a day to 45.

Through FY07, Congress has appropriated a total of $84,850,000 for Lewis & Clark. In FY08, Lewis & Clark is seeking $35 million, which is the amount needed to keep construction on schedule.

The three states and 20 members continue to show strong support through their funding contributions. They have appropriated more than $42.7 million through 2006. This includes pre-payment by the states of Iowa and Minnesota, as well as accelerated funding by South Dakota. During FY07, 17 of Lewis & Clark's 20 members are pre-paying their share of the project ($88.4 million).