WAWS: The Monster The Legislature Created And Now Must Tame

 

“Government should only do what the private sector cannot or will not.”

In 2011, the North Dakota Legislature approved the creation of a water project commonly known as WAWS (the official name is Western Area Water Supply Authority).  The concept behind WAWS was very well intended: create a rural water system that would provide infrastructure and water to communities in western North Dakota and pay for the system by selling water to the oil industry for fraking purposes. 

But, as happens when there is oil money involved, greed and mission creep took over the project, and now the entity created by the legislature has gone into the business of lobbying against private water providers – writing letters to the water commission demanding that permits be denied any time a private business wants to operate in what they consider “their territory”.   

Senate Bill 2359 was passed by the North Dakota State Senate by a vote of 33 Yeas to 14 Nays.  This bill contain one of the most shocking and dang…