Bear Butte Livestock Water Pipeline Replacement

The Bear Butte livestock water system will be maintained and replaced with new 1-½ to 2-inch high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe and installed by trenching at depths 5-6 feet deep. The current pipeline and spurs were originally installed in the 1980s and 1990s during three different installment segments with PVC pipe. The current pipe is eroding, and half the livestock water line is no longer functioning. The pipeline will be replaced and updated within the already disturbed area of the current pipeline route. Required Design features will be applied to avoid or limit impacts to other resources. These design features address construction activities and limit potential impacts to other buried utility lines, cultural resources, noxious weeds, erosion, and migratory birds (see below). The Bear Butte pipeline would be replaced along the already existing surveyed routes. Stock water tanks would be replaced with new rectangular fiberglass tanks and equipped with the required design features such as wildlife escape ramps, calf barriers, floats, and overflow pipes. Approximately 27,800 feet of existing stock water pipeline will be replaced with new High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. Twelve new rectangular fiberglass water tanks will be installed in the existing tank locations along the replacement pipeline routes and spurs (one tank location currently has a double tank and will be replaced by only one rectangular tank). All tanks will hold a minimum of 1,000 gallons of water. Tanks would not be filled with water until it is needed for livestock and would remain full until October 1 or until the first freeze. All old tanks and hydrants will be removed from the site once the new system is installed. This pipeline provides livestock water to the Bear Butte Allotment within Fort Meade in South Dakota that revenues $103 an AUM through a closed bid system. Bear Butte allotment serves as the highest AUM priced allotment in the United States managed by the BLM and currently there is no available stock water available for half of the total allotment. If pipeline isn't available by spring of 2027, BLM's revenue could be significantly reduced. All Environmental Analysist and cultural clearances have been completed for this project.