Huether leading task force on poisoned Big Sioux River

Brookings is not just home to SDGOP's most obnoxious liar; it's home to some of the most polluted watersheds in South Dakota.

Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether is taking his annual Big Sioux River Water Summit upstream. The 2015 Big Sioux River Water Summit, still being organized by the city, will be Sept. 10 at the Brookings Days Inn. Officials are identifying non-point pollution sources along the river and Skunk Creek, and promoting the use of animal confinement systems that keep livestock out of the river. [Joe Sneve]

A cheese factory made possible by Republican cronyism sustains the stench of thousands of dairy cattle making eastern South Dakota a wasteland.

In 2012, after another GOP governor gutted environmental protection in South Dakota, the Big Sioux River was named the thirteenth most polluted river in the US and nearly every waterway in the state suffers impairment.

Biologists consider the presence of freshwater mussels a sign of good water quality. In South Dakota’s rivers and streams, the variety and numbers of mussels appear to be diminishing. [Aberdeen American News]

The state's GOP congressional delegation is scrambling to cover up their roles in creating the circumstances for the Big Sioux River's impairment and protecting their campaign donors from scrutiny.