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Senate Passes Latest WAWS Bailout; Admits Failure

Senate fast-tracked bill out of committee and to the floor, passed with a 47-0 vote.
Dustin Gawrylow
Jan 26, 2023
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On Tuesday, the North Dakota State Senate passed SB 2196 which is the latest bailout bill for the Western Area Water Supply.

North Dakota's Watchdog Update
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Watch now (53 min) | For a background on this issue, check out our two compilations on the history. Archive of Articles on the Western Area Water Supply up to 2016. Jason Spiess’ 2017 Four-Part Journalistic Piece on the History of WAWS…
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a year ago · 1 like · Dustin Gawrylow

This was fast-tracked out of committee the day testimony was taken.

The noteworthy speech on the Senate floor was that of Senator Ron Sorvaag pointing out that the legislature forgave $74 million worth of WAWS loans last session, and he also admitted that the entire Industrial Water Sales model has failed.

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Kudos To Senator Ron Sorvaag For Admitting The WAWS Industrial Sales Model Failed
Watch now (1 min) | In the ongoing saga of the Western Area Water Supply, rarely do the legislators who supported the faulty program along the way admit that it did not work. Senator Ron Sorvaag (R-Fargo) did just that on the floor of the Senate on January, 22nd 2023. Thank you for saying what needed to be said…
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a year ago · Dustin Gawrylow

I like to give credit when our elected officials speak the truth.

One interesting detail in Senate Bil 2196 is the fact the Western Area Water Supply oversight will now be done by the State Water Commission rather than the Industrial Commission.

Back in the 2015 Legislative Session, Senate Bill 2336 tried to do just that. We supported that bill at that time.

That bill passed the Senate 35-11 but was defeated in the House 12-78.

At that time, the State Water Commission basically said they didn’t want to be involved with WAWS.

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Dustin Gawrylow