Lake Oahe "a memorandum and an executive order asking USACE to expedite its consideration of the company’s application for an easement to start construction." The USACE subsequently "withdrew its call for the environmental study." On 7 February 2017, the USACE approved an easement through Lake Oahe. On 9 February 2017, the Cheyenne River Sioux filed the first legal challenge to the easement, citing an 1851 treaty and interference with the religious practices of the tribe. Lake Oahe Lake Oahe (oh-WAH'-hee) is a large reservoir behind Oahe Dam on the Missouri River; it begins in central South Dakota and continues north into North
Big Bend Dam 47 crosses over the dam, connecting Lyman and Buffalo Counties. Big Bend Dam is located approximately north of I-90, and approximately southeast of Pierre. The next dam upstream is Oahe Dam, near Pierre, and the next dam downstream is Fort Randall Dam, near Pickstown. The construction of the dam resulted in the dislocation of people on the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Reservations. The flooding of the land for the reservoir also resulted in the loss of limited plant life resources used by these people for food and medicine. A monument at Big Bend Dam dedicated in 2002, the Spirit