Lewis & Clark Regional Water System

Legal name: Lewis & Clark Rural Water System

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363755632
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tea, SD, US
Phone
(605) 368-2400
Rating
54
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Utilities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$67,857,178
Expenses
$26,963,491
Assets
$622,361,762
Liabilities
$87,407,450

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • TROY LARSON (EXECUTIVE DI): $247,543 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Construct and operate a first-of-its-kind tri-state drinking water system serving southeast South Dakota, northwest Iowa, and southwest Minnesota.

What it reported doing in 2024

To improve water supplies to residents of se South Dakota and the adjacent areas of sw Minnesota and nw Iowa including construction of the water system.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 75% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

MIXED - Most voting board members are independent and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 17
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 92
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 12.3%; rating input score 12
  • Program expense ratio: 31.3%; rating input score 31
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 60.3%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 23.08; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 12.3% of revenue deployed · 31.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $248K · 21 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 12/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 31/100.