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THE SOUTH DAKOTA ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT SDEPA requires that state agencies study the environmental consequences of their actions, including permitting and financial assistance. It also requires them to take all feasible measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate damage to the environment.

Climate change and its impacts are already showing up in South Dakota. Extreme drought, shorter ice-fishing seasons and increasingly favorable conditions for invasive pests are all evidence of shifts in our climate affecting people, nature and our economy.

Sprawling prairies, fertile farmland and glacial lakes dominate the landscape in eastern South Dakota. Prairies and ranchland are common in central South Dakota. Mountains grace the western skyline, and in the southwest, striking Badlands formations rise abruptly from the surrounding prairie.

The list of issues surrounding our environment go on, but there are three major ones that affect the majority of them overall: global warming and climate change; water pollution and ocean acidification; and loss of biodiversity.

Wildfires, drought and insect outbreaks exacerbated by climate change will threaten the ponderosa pine trees that dominate the Black Hills region. Wildfire smoke from not only the Black Hills but also Canada and the western United States will further impact air quality across the state, keeping people indoors.

In South Dakota, all water (surface and ground water) is the property of the people of the state and whether you need a water right permit depends on the type of your water use. The only type of water use which does not require a water right permit is domestic use.