Public water system · SD4600904

Active

Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells

At a glance

Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells (PWSID SD4600904) is an active transient non-community water system in Pennington County, South Dakota. It reports serving 90 people through 10 service connections. Its primary water source is groundwater, and EPA lists it as privately owned. Of the 12 most recent violations in EPA's records, 4 are health-based, and the most recent began in September 2011.

Dataset updated October 2026 . Source: EPA SDWIS/ECHO public records.

Population served

Service connections

Primary source

Groundwater

System type

TNCWS

Transient non-community water system

System record

PWSIDSD4600904

System typeTransient non-community water system

Activity statusActive

Population served90

Service connections10

Primary water sourceGroundwater

Owner typePrivate

Primacy agencySD state drinking water program

City servedRapid City

StateSouth Dakota

ZIP57702

CountyPennington County

How does Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells compare with other water systems in Pennington County?

By EPA's size categories, Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells is a very small system (500 people or fewer). Pennington County has 150 active public water systems. Its population served is well below the county average of 930 people per system, and accounts for less than 0.1% of the 139,467 people reported by systems filed under the county. Across South Dakota, the 699 active systems average 1,387 people each. Nationally, the average active transient non-community water system reports serving 144 people, so Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells is about 37% below that figure.

What does “transient non-community water system” mean?

A transient non-community water system serves places where people do not stay long, such as gas stations and campgrounds, and regularly serves at least 25 people a day for at least 60 days a year. South Dakota has 173 active transient non-community water systems, 25% of the state's 699 active systems. Groundwater means the system draws its water from wells or springs fed by underground aquifers. 431 South Dakota systems (62%) list groundwater as their primary source.

Who owns and regulates Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells?

EPA lists Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells as privately owned. The SD state drinking water program is its primacy agency, the regulator with primary enforcement responsibility for the system under the Safe Drinking Water Act. 134 of the 150 active systems in Pennington County (89%) are also privately owned.

Does Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells have drinking water violations?

Of the 12 most recent violations in EPA's records, 4 are health-based, and the most recent began in September 2011. The violations listed here began between July 1997 and September 2011. By type: 6 monitoring and reporting, 4 contaminant level above the legal limit and 2 public notice, recordkeeping or other. The contaminant or rule involved most often is Total coliform bacteria (TCR) (12 of them). EPA lists 7 as archived and 5 as resolved. Archived means the violation was not marked resolved but is more than five years past the end of the noncompliance period, so it no longer counts toward current compliance status. Resolved means at least one resolving action is on record: the system returned to compliance, the rule no longer applies, or no further action was needed.

Began	Violation	Contaminant or rule	Health-based	Status
2011-09-01	Contaminant level above the legal limitMaximum Contaminant Level Violation, Monthly (TCR) · code 22	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	Yes	Resolved
2011-07-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring, Routine Minor (TCR) · code 24	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Resolved
2011-06-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring, Repeat Minor (TCR) · code 26	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Resolved
2011-06-01	Contaminant level above the legal limitMaximum Contaminant Level Violation, Monthly (TCR) · code 22	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	Yes	Resolved
2000-06-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring, Repeat Major (TCR) · code 25	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Resolved
1999-09-19	Public notice, recordkeeping or otherNotification, Public · code 06	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Archived
1999-07-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring, Routine Major (TCR) · code 23	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Archived
1997-10-13	Public notice, recordkeeping or otherNotification, Public · code 06	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Archived
1997-09-01	Contaminant level above the legal limitMaximum Contaminant Level Violation, Monthly (TCR) · code 22	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	Yes	Archived
1997-08-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring, Repeat Major (TCR) · code 25	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Archived
1997-08-01	Contaminant level above the legal limitMaximum Contaminant Level Violation, Monthly (TCR) · code 22	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	Yes	Archived
1997-07-01	Monitoring and reportingMonitoring, Repeat Major (TCR) · code 25	Total coliform bacteria (TCR)code 3100	No	Archived

The 12 most recent violations in EPA's records, newest first. Labels and codes come from EPA's SDWIS reference tables. A monitoring or reporting violation means a required test or report was missed or late; it does not by itself mean a contaminant was found. "Health-based" marks violations of a legal limit or required treatment.

Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells: frequently asked questions

Who runs Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells?

Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells (PWSID SD4600904) is a transient non-community water system privately owned. It is regulated by the SD state drinking water program.

How many people does Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells serve?

Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells reports serving 90 people through 10 service connections in Pennington County, South Dakota.

Where does Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells get its water?

EPA SDWIS lists this system's primary water source as groundwater. Groundwater means the system draws its water from wells or springs fed by underground aquifers.

Does Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells have any drinking water violations?

Of the 12 most recent violations in EPA's records, 4 are health-based, and the most recent began in September 2011. A monitoring or reporting violation means a required test or report was missed or late; it does not by itself mean a contaminant was found.

Is Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells' water safe to drink?

AquaCensus shows EPA compliance records, not current water test results, so it cannot say whether the water is safe at a given moment. Of the 12 most recent violations in EPA's records, 4 are health-based, and the most recent began in September 2011. For current results, consult EPA ECHO, or the SD state drinking water program.

Where can I find Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells' water quality report?

The annual Consumer Confidence Report requirement applies to community water systems. Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells is a transient non-community water system, so it is not required to publish one; like every public water system, it must notify the people it serves about violations under EPA's public notification rules.

Other water systems in Pennington County

Water system	County	Population served	Type	Source
Rapid City	Pennington	72,009	Community	Surface water
Box Elder	Pennington	14,000	Community	Groundwater
Rapid Valley Sanitary District	Pennington	11,408	Community	Surface water
Ellsworth Afb	Pennington	9,100	Community	Purchased surface water
Nps-Mount Rushmore National Memorial	Pennington	4,100	Non-transient non-community	Groundwater
Colonial Pine Hills Sanitary Distric	Pennington	1,200	Community	Groundwater

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About this data

Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and SDWA violation records, via EPA ECHO, as published October 1, 2026 — AquaCensus refreshes it quarterly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.

Cite as: AquaCensus, “Horse Creek Resort-Lower Wells, PWSID SD4600904, South Dakota”, https://aquacensus.com/water-systems/south-dakota/horse-creek-resort-lower-wells-sd4600904 (data as of October 1, 2026).