YANKTON - The B-Y Water District and the city of Yankton are locked in a dispute over water, and the state's congressional delegation is urging the two sides to resolve it.

"As members of the South Dakota Congressional Delegation, we respectfully urge both parties to continue good-faith efforts to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement that will serve the interests of the Yankton area," a letter from Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Sen. Tim Johnson and Sen. John Thune said.

B-Y filed a lawsuit last fall, claiming its jurisdiction to serve water covers all of Yankton County except for the municipal boundaries of the city as they existed on or before the district was formed in 1977.

The letter and another from the Yankton County Commission are helpful, Mayor Charlie Gross said.

"We appreciate the encouragement we're getting from Congress and the Yankton County Commission," he said. "Sen. Johnson, Sen. Thune and Rep. Herseth Sandlin are all correct in saying, 'Please talk to each other.' That's what we have to do, and our attorneys have been in conversation, so we'll just continue that process."

B-Y will consider all options to resolve the matter quickly, said B-Y attorney Tom Alberts.

B-Y's federal suit says the city has "intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, and/or negligently curtailed and encroached upon" B-Y's service area, causing the water district to suffer "in the form of lost revenue, lost future revenue, and an impaired ability to satisfy its obligations under its federal indebtedness."

The city's response cites a state law that says when someone within three miles of a municipality that owns and operates a water supply system requests water from a rural water system, the city has 60 days to elect to provide water service.

"If the municipality does not so elect," the law reads, "the rural water system may provide such service."

B-Y has said that due to the litigation, it will not approve water plans for developments within three miles of Yankton.

A trial is scheduled for Oct. 28 before U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol.

The congressional delegation's letter offers no suggestions on how to resolve the matter.

"Growing demand for water, population growth, new housing developments and economic expansion certainly create new dilemmas in terms of infrastructure improvements and service regions," the letter says. "However, it is our hope that these matters can be dealt with in a cooperative manner, in order to serve the greater good of continued economic growth for South Dakotans living in the Yankton area."