Big Sioux River Archives - Big Sioux Media Sports Network

Annual River Cleanup Continues in Dell Rapids

May 26, 2021 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

What started as a community project after frustrations over garbage and trash at the dam area in Dell Rapids has led to an annual event. The “4th Annual River Cleanup Day” was held on Saturday, May 22nd

Kiley Stone organized the annual event in 2018 and has asked the community to join in the cleanup day to keep the local parks of Dell Rapids clean over the last four years. This year’s event brought 10 volunteers to help clean up different areas around the river.

“This year I went to look at the areas along the river that needed cleanup the most. To my delight, the area by the dam that we’ve done every year since starting was almost completely litter free. Most of this is due to the construction of the bike path, but it still shows that the yearly cleanup seems to be working!” said Stone. “We decided to expand to different areas, so we started at the tail end of the Rock Run stream and headed south. We covered the areas along the bike path starting at the 115 bridge all the way over to the pedestrian bridge. Again, there was not a lot of trash to be found until we ended up at the trail that cuts down along the river from the pedestrian bridge west to the highway. We came across a huge tarp that has been there for years. A few of the volunteers worked on removing that for quite some time.”

Stone also issued a huge thank you to everyone that volunteered and helped spread the word!

Big Sioux River Expected to Rise Again in Dell Rapids

April 10, 2019 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The City of Dell Rapids may not have seen the last of the flooding issues this spring. The National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website is predicting the river to rise above 15′ again by Thursday, April 18th and potentially reach a level of 15.5′ by Saturday, April 20th.

Weeks ago the prediction service had predicted the river to potentially be down to 12′ by Friday, April 5th, but the Big Sioux River only dropped to just under 13.5′ by that time. The current prediction is indicating the river to stay close to the 14′ mark through Friday, but then drop to about 13′ by early next week. This appears to be just a lull before the river again rises by mid-to-late next week. Dell Rapids saw the Big Sioux River reach the high point of 15.98′ on Sunday, March 24th. The current prediction shows the level to stay under that high point as of now.

Administration with the City of Dell Rapids has urged homeowners to monitor the National Weather Service forecast and again prepare for more rising waters through a message on Facebook. You can monitor the National Weather Service’s water level predictions for the Big Sioux River by clicking this link.

Peak Flood Waters Reached in Dell Rapids?

March 26, 2019 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The Big Sioux River in Dell Rapids may have seen the highest levels of flood waters. According to the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service website, the peak of the flood waters of the Big Sioux River in Dell Rapids may have happened on Sunday, March 24th. The river reached a recorded height of 15.98 feet on that day.

About 25 properties have been impacted by the flood waters by the river according to City Administrator Justin Weiland in a report he gave to KELO TV. The community has come together over the last couple of weeks putting together sandbags, helping place those sandbags, and help property owners move possessions in hopes of minimizing the damage from the flood.

The question now is how long the flood waters will remain at the current level. The National Weather Service’s prediction shows the river should remain at about 15.8 feet throughout the remainder of the week. Flood waters should start to recede about Monday, April 1st with the water level dropping to just over 12 feet by Friday, April 5th. Outlooks could change, though, with more snow that has yet to melt in northern South Dakota. According to Jason Gearman of the Minnehaha County Emergency Management the weather forecast has really helped keep the levels below what was predicted for the flooding weeks ago. With the flood waters predicted to stay in the “major flood” stage for another week, it will still take some time to survey all the damage caused by the flood.

You can monitor the National Weather Service’s water level predictions for the Big Sioux River by clicking this link.

City of Dell Rapids Preparing for Flooding

March 20, 2019 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

The National Weather Service is predicting the Big Sioux River in Dell Rapids will reach near record flood levels by Monday, March 25th and stay near that level throughout much of next week, and citizens are proactively working to limit the damage as much as possible. The NWS predicts the Big Sioux River will hit 16.3 feet, which is just shy of the 16.5 foot recorded record. Flood stage is at 12.0 feet. The current level of the river is at 13.66 feet.

The City of Dell Rapids has been in coordination with the Emergency Management staff at Minnehaha County. A 24-hour sandbagging site is now open at the Dell Rapids City maintenance shop located at 24680 475th Ave. Sandbags, shovel, and sand is available at the site and will be open 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Residents are urged to be prepared to fill their own sandbags, however, there are efforts to get volunteers to help fill the bags.

If you would like to help volunteer to help fill sandbags, please visit the Dell Rapids Flood Relief and Preparation Facebook group to get more details on how to help, https://www.facebook.com/groups/2005215246440744/

Garbage Frustration Leads to River Clean-up Day

September 19, 2017 by Matt Larson, Big Sioux Media

Frustrations over garbage and trash at the dam area have lead a Dell Rapids resident to schedule the first River Clean-up Day. Kiley Stone, owner of Stone Photography, couldn’t stop thinking about how sad it was that an area so beautiful is being damaged with garbage and litter.

“Growing up I never really knew the area by the dam existed. When I started getting into photography, I started exploring all the areas of town I was unfamiliar with. The area by the dam is my favorite. It is a beautiful area and there is a lot of ground to walk around and explore. I have continued, year after year, to watch this area get trashed and damaged. When I take customers there, I am always having to tell them to watch out for all the glass or we cannot use this spot because it’s littered with trash,” Stone said.

Rather than complaining about the situation, Stone has organized a “River Clean-up Day” for Saturday, October 14th, starting at 8:00 a.m. A Facebook event posted by Stone as already gotten great response from many in the community that want to help. The event has also received support from the City of Dell Rapids.

“The City of Dell Rapids said they would provide the trash bags and bring a couple of dumpsters down to throw all the bags into,” Stone said. “Since this is the first time, I am not sure how much ground we will cover, but I hope to cleanup all along the river from Highway 115 west to the trestle. If it works out great and I get a good response, I hope to keep this as an annual event and circle around to different areas of town each year.”

More information about the event can be found on the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/116784005657149/. Stone can also be contacted at 605-254-6913 or at kiley1979@hotmail.com.