Are we turning the Black Hills into a factory for mineral extraction and depleting water resources while we’re at it?
(Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series of looks at the impact of proposed exploration and mining ventures in the Black Hills.)
Exploiters of mineral resources in the Black Hills, aka miners, have plenty of sound economic reasons for putting money and machinery into the region, and for more than a century they’ve been doing just that. No question our history, identity, and you might even say character have been shaped by the long saga of miners in the area.
But colorful as it may be, the history of mining has as many – some would justifiably say more – negatives than it does positives. Some, including ruined mining sites and the theft of land from the Indian population that was here before the mining frenzy of the late 19th Century, have left a legacy that still demand our attention. But, sordid and unresolved as many of those issues are, these biospherically uncertain times demand that we also focus on the Black Hills from a resource management perspective. Unlike earlier generations, we can’t assume that their relatively pristine nature will extend very far into the future. We have to assess and confront the challenges to our precious stretch of hills and forests as we prepare to hand them over to succeeding generations.
The long-standing traditions of extracting the minerals and metals that are the substance of the Hills are posing one of the most contentious of those challenges in our world of 2023.
Why? Because when it comes to mining in the Black Hills (a portion of them is seen above in a photo by the USDA Forest Service), we have to wonder about its future in light of the effects of climate change and how it impacts the most precious resource that we have: water. You can argue about the causes all you want, but severe and persistent drought seems to be the new normal. If you’re still not sure about the relationship between climate change and drought, consider what the U.S. Geological Survey has to say about it: “Climate change has further altered the natural pattern of droughts, making them more frequent, longer, and more severe. Since 2000, the western United States is experiencing some of the driest conditions on record.”
So what does that mean for the future of mining in the Black Hills? It means we have to consider the strain that mining puts on our local water resources.
According to the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, uranium mines recently proposed for Custer and Fall River counties in the southern Black Hills would use 9,000 gallons of water per minute over the course of 15 or 20 years. Says BHCWA, just a couple of the half dozen gold mines proposed for the region as of a year ago would consume millions of gallons of water a year.
Where will it come from? A joint 2002 study by the U.S. Dept. of Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey notes that the Black Hills are an important water resource center for the region, but that “population growth, resource development, and periodic droughts have the potential to affect the quantity, quality, and availability of water within the Black Hills area.”
That two-decade old study acknowledged that there are headwinds when it comes to maintaining water resources. With that in mind, how can the steady demands and growth of the mining industry do anything but further strain available water supplies, particularly now, when drought seems to be a commonly recurring symptom of climate change?
Looking ahead, possibly some of these needs could be supplied a few decades from now if the long term goal of piping Missouri River water back from central South Dakota to the Black Hills comes to fruition. That’s a forward-looking plan advanced by Western Dakota Regional Water System. According to its president, Dale Tech, the process is “20, 30 or 50 years out.”
I asked attorney Suzanne Iudicello, who owns and operates Iudicello and Associates, an environmental consulting firm in Rapid City, if the plan for the WDRWS could determine the viability of mining expansion in the Black Hills. Answers Iudicello: “It could. Since 2018, Mineral Mountain Resources has been purchasing water from the city of Lead for exploration operations. Lead draws its water from nearby surface water and from the Madison aquifer. That's got to be spendy. If lithium becomes more valuable than gold, that would take a lot of water."
The audacious proposal to essentially re-route a significant portion of the Missouri River’s water back westward from its southeastern course is bold, indeed, one that acknowledges the huge engineering challenges created by climate change-induced droughts.
It may well work, but in the meantime, we can’t look decades ahead for solutions that need to be sought and applied now.
What do the mining interests have to say about it?
I may come on to some of their ideas in a few weeks. Later this month (Sept. 22) I’ll be attending the Black Hills Forum and Press Club’s quarterly gathering in Rapid City, when three representatives of South Dakota’s mineral industries will discuss the outlook for mineral extraction from the Black Hills.
It’ll be interesting and maybe even a bit contentious. I’ll report back on it here.
John Tsitrian is a businessman and writer from the Black Hills. He was a weekly columnist for the Rapid City Journal for 20 years. His articles and commentary hLondonave also appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Denver Post and The Omaha World-Herald. Tsitrian served in the Marines for three years (1966-69), including a 13-month tour of duty as a radioman in Vietnam.
