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May 1st Deadline to comment of proposed waste water discharge to French Creek by Custer City

May 1 @ 10:50 pm - 10:59 pm

Please provide comments to South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources in opposition to

City of Custer South Dakota DRAFT Surface Water Discharge (SWD)

Permit No. SD0023281

Public Notice: https://danr.sd.gov/officeofwater/surfacewaterquality/pn/CusterPNDraft.pdf

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Comments may be mailed to:       South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources

                                                Water Quality Program

                                                Joe Foss Building

                                                523 East Capitol

                                                Pierre, SD  57501

 

Comments may also be provided within the specified thirty (30) day comment period using the online
comment form, accessible via the “Comment Deadline” links provided at http://danr.sd.gov/public. Any
person desiring a public hearing must file a petition which complies with the ARSD Chapter 74:52:05.
If no objections are received within the specified 30-day period, the Secretary will issue final
determinations within sixty days of the date of this notic

Links for posting to a comment portal –  http://danr.sd.gov/public , ……….                     https://danr.sd.gov/public/comment.aspx?d_comment=05/01/2026&name=City%20of%20Custer&pntype=sw_npdes&description=The%20City%20of%20Custer%20is%20authorized%20under%20this%20permit%20to%20discharge%20to%20Flynn%20Creek%20and%20French%20Creek%20from%20its%20wastewater%20treatment%20facility%20located%20in%20Custer%20County.

 

Deadline for Public Comment: May 1, 2026

 

The Public Notice, https://danr.sd.gov/officeofwater/surfacewaterquality/pn/CusterPNDraft.pdf

Draft Permit, and https://danr.sd.gov/officeofwater/surfacewaterquality/pn/CusterPermitDraft.pdf

Statement of Basis (for the Permit) https://danr.sd.gov/officeofwater/surfacewaterquality/pn/CusterSOBDraft.pdf

can be found on the DANR website.

We assume the deadline is just before  midnight Central Time, normally that is when DANR deadlines with no time of day  specified are due – but we are not sure about time-of-day for the deadline.

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The members of Preserve French Creek Inc,  have requested our assistance in alerting PHAS members to the Notice inviting Public Comment on the City of Custer’s application to discharge its treated sewage wastewater into French Creek in Custer County, South Dakota.

 

Preserve French Creek NGO asks our members to oppose this Permit based on personal experiences, knowledge of French Creek, and the importance of retaining the current water quality of this valuable resource. 

Here are a few other facts to also consider identifying in comments:
No Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement was completed with regard to French Creek, only for the areas of the current City plant and discharge location construction.
450,000 – 750,000 gallons of treated wastewater will be allowed to discharge into French Creek DAILY under this Permit.  Flows in French Creek in the first few miles of discharge are historically low during drier seasonal periods. Low flows have been consistently present in 2025 and 2026 due to lack of moisture and current drought conditions.  Flow rates used for this Permit came from a USGS monitor located approximately 22 miles downstream from the proposed discharge location.  French Creek flows at the monitor location are considerably higher. These higher water flow rates have been used to determine treatments and allowances not applicable to the flow rates where the initial wastewater discharge will occur (the first ten miles).
Shallow household drinking water wells are in close proximity to the selected French Creek discharge route.  Rock formations in the area allow creek waters to flow to and potentially penetrate well water.
The volume of wastewater discharge into French Creek will raise creek water temperatures and affect cold-water trout habitats as well as all flora and fauna currently known to exist in  the creek. Two fish, the mountain (plains) sucker and long-nosed sucker, identified as species that are “of greatest conservation need” and “threatened” by the SD Game, Fish and Parks, have been found in French Creek during the water monitoring study led by Dr. Scott Kenner and Robert Hrabik that began in 2024.
No pH levels are defined in the Permit to prevent Creek degradation.
Ammonia nitrate levels in this Permit are not required to be met until July 1, 2029, causing damage to French Creek waters and habitats that will continue to exist after the lowest levels are required to be in place.
The State only recently reclassified French Creek as “full immersion” waters under the Sylvan Lake Complex and Custer SWD permits, due to documentation of swimming and Baptisms occurring in its waters along with other recreational uses like wading, floating, and recreational gold-panning.  Full immersion waters should always be excluded from being polluted with sewage wastewater.
SD Codified Law prohibits the pollution of state waters when other “reasonable” alternatives are available.  The City could have chosen to continue to discharge to its current location. However, they have chosen to pollute new waters.  In the past Custer discharged its sewage wastewater directly into Stockade Lake, until a mandatory clean up of the Lake was required in the 1980s, then the City selected Flynn Creek as its next discharge location, where no residences or businesses would be affected, and has discharged its treated sewage wastewater to this location for the past 40 years. Now, Custer is choosing to pollute a 3rd location, French Creek, to save the City and its residents money. Should the cost to Custer and its residents be the determining factor in allowing the pollution of yet another state waters when other alternatives, including continuing to discharge to Flynn Creek, and additional more environmentally friendly options could have been explored and pursued?
Visitors to Custer State Park will be affected by the discharge into French Creek.  Blue Bell Lodge, a restaurant, event center, park campgrounds, and trails all have French Creek flowing beside them.  How will visitors be made aware of the presence of treated sewage wastewater in the Creek when in the Park?  How will visitors and park occupants be notified and alerted to planned and accidental discharges into French Creek that involve untreated wastewater?
Custer State Park has more than 2 million visitors annually. These visits support local and state budgets, school funds, and businesses in the Black Hills. Will people continue to come to Custer State Park when they realize wastewater is being discharged into a previously clean French Creek?
There is no provision to provide signage or notify property owners and downstream users of the presence of treated sewage wastewater or incidents in this Draft Permit, only plans related to informing City residents, business and property owners.
Thank you studying this issue. Our voices for clean water in the Black Hills are louder together!
For more information contact
Lana and Royce Huber

hublana08@gmail.com,  (402) 389-0410

They are members of Prairie Hills Audubon Society and  of Preserve French Creek, Inc. and Preserve French Creek Foundation, Inc. 
Here are some unique comments from PHAS on American Dipper–
     We are an environmental group concerned about the protection of the American dipper in the Black Hills. It is non-migratory and lives year-round near fast moving, clear, rocky streams. The dipper once existed in French Creek, Rapid Creek, Box Elder Creek, Elk Creek, Bear Butte Creek, Spearfish Creek and Whitewood Creek in the Black Hills. It now exists in Spearfish and Whitewood Creek (and some tributaries). Our Black Hills dipper are isolated from other dipper populations in the American west and are developing unique genetics that may warrant a sub-species classification, however in 2009, the USFWS wanted more research to prove that, before listing as a Distinct Population Segment, under the ESA.
       This aquatic song bird is listed as a state threatened species under SD’s Endangered Species Act. It is a Forest Service sensitive species. We and 3 other groups petitioned in 2008 to have the Black Hill’s American dipper listed as a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) under the federal Endangered Species Act, but that petition was denied in 2009 by the USFWS.
      The dipper is believed to have been lost in French Creek due to loss of water quality and perhaps loss of water quantity due to Stockage Lake. The dipper were prevalent in French Creek in 1920s but disappeared in 1930s, perhaps due to Stockade Lake water quantity and/or quality impacts.
         Prairie Hills Audubon Society wants to recover the American dipper in as many Black Hills streams as possible. It’s existence in only 2 drainages, makes its’ existence vulnerable to major events such as floods or fires. We think Custer State Park (CSP) is supposed to be managed at least in part for wildlife and we want the Park and DANR to work towards protecting the water quality and quantity in the French Creek.

Details

  • Date: May 1
  • Time:
    10:50 pm - 10:59 pm