The Southwest Water Authority (SWA), a political subdivision, was established by the North Dakota State Legislature in 1991. The Southwest Pipeline Project (SWPP) is state owned and administered by the North Dakota State Water Commission (SWC). The SWPP transports raw water from Lake Sakakawea to Dickinson where it is treated and delivered to the project's customers in southwest North Dakota and Perkins County, South Dakota. SWA is responsible for the management, operations and maintenance of the Project.
Directors of the Southwest Water Authority must be qualified voters of the county where the officer is chosen when nominating petitions are filed. (NDCC SS 61-24.5-06).
Filing Requirements
Any person who is a resident and qualified elector of the county, who aspires to the office of director of the southwest water authority, shall, before four p.m. of the sixty-fourth day before any primary election preceding a general election at which a director of the authority is to be elected, present to the county auditor a petition giving that person's name, post-office address, and the title of the office of the southwest water authority to which that person is seeking election. The petition must contain the signatures of not less than two percent of the qualified electors of the county as determined by the number of votes cast in the county for the office of director of the southwest water authority at the most recent preceding election at which the office of director of the southwest water authority was voted upon.