Rapid City Public Works

10/09/2026

Rapid City's Stormwater crews were hard at work this week helping with a clean up of the overgrown vegetation along Rapid Creek. Using equipment, like this flail mower and excavator, they ground up brush and branches to enhance visibility of the creek.

Teaming up with the Police Department and other city departments, as well as county & state agencies, the area cleaned up included from I-190 to the fairgrounds.

Thanks to our Stormwater crews and everyone involved for your efforts!

10/02/2026

🤔 Where does Rapid City's drinking water come from?

💧 A lot of our water comes from Rapid Creek and is stored in Pactola and Deerfield Reservoirs.

🚰 Protecting our water supply starts upstream, well before it reaches a treatment plant, and we can’t do it alone.

🫶 Show Rapid Creek some love by taking everyday actions to prevent pollution and manage waste properly:

🌱 Yard and Garden Care
• Fertilizers and pesticides: Use lawn chemicals sparingly and follow label instructions strictly. Avoid applying them right before heavy rain so they do not wash into water bodies.
• Native plants and mulch: Landscape with native plants and use mulch on bare soil or slopes to stop soil erosion and sediment runoff.
• Keep storm drains clear: Sweep up grass clippings, fallen leaves, and debris from driveways and streets so they stay out of storm drains.

🚮 Proper Waste Disposal
• Hazardous household waste: Take old motor oil, paints, batteries, and chemical cleaners to designated community collection sites rather than pouring them down sinks, toilets, or storm drains.
• Medications: Drop off unused or expired pharmaceuticals at local collection programs; never flush them down the toilet.
• Pet waste and litter: Pick up pet waste and bag it, as pet waste carries bacteria and nutrients that wash directly into local waterways during rainstorms.

🗓️ Join a Monthly Rapid Creek Cleanup
• Help pick up litter on the second Saturday of every month. Follow Clean up Rapid Creek for specific locations and start times.

08/07/2026

🚨 Let's talk about lithium batteries! 🚨
These batteries are SO dangerous 😫 For us AND for you!
Please please please don't throw away lithium batteries!! These batteries can overheat easily and it is highly likely that it will get punctured or smashed during the burial process. If these batteries get punctured, they can catch fire or explode.
We want to keep YOU and our employees safe! We don’t want one of these to get punctured/overheat
a) Inside of your garbage can that's next to your garage or house!
b) Inside of a garbage truck
c) Inside of the pit where we have employees driving heavy machinery around
d) Inside of the building that we sort recycled material in
Lithium batteries are found in electronics like cell phones, laptops, tablets, different va**ng devices, e-cigarettes, etc. There will be a warning label on the battery if it’s lithium and cannot be thrown away.
Places that you can take lithium batteries or alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, etc) - please call to see if there is a charge!
✨ Interstate Battery recycles ALL batteries (takes all sizes of lithium batteries - including laptop & motorcycle/kid jeep lithium batteries)
✨ Batteries and Bulbs Plus - They recycle ALL lithium batteries (takes all sizes of lithium batteries - including laptop & motorcycle/kid jeep lithium batteries)
.
We really appreciate if household (alkaline - AA, AAA, etc) batteries are recycled as well, but they aren’t as dangerous as the others.
PLEASE message us or give us a call if you have any questions on how to dispose of something or if you just aren't sure if you should throw it away in your can!

08/07/2026

If you have questions about renewing your City Sewer Water or Trenching license, call us today! (605) 791-5577

06/24/2026

📢 Exciting news! 🚦 Installation of a street light at the Landfill intersection on S Highway 79 has started!! 🚧

🚧 TRAFFIC ALERT – RAPID CITY LANDFILL 🚧
There is officially going to be a traffic light installed at the landfill intersection! 🥳
Beginning June 23rd, construction will start on a new traffic signal at the landfill entrance. Work is expected to continue through August 2nd!
During construction, residents will experience lane closures on the highway and potential traffic delays when accessing the landfill and 24/7 remote site. Please allow extra travel time and use caution when entering and exiting the facility!
⚠️ IMPORTANT REMINDER ⚠️
Please remain in the designated traffic line when entering the landfill.
The landfill entrance will have one inbound lane and one outbound lane.
Attempting to bypass waiting vehicles to access the 24/7 site is dangerous and will create congestion on Highway 79.
To help avoid delays during construction, residents are encouraged to use our other remote collection sites for yard waste, cardboard, and recycling:
📍 1117 Nickel Street
📍 Fitzgerald Stadium – Sheridan Lake Road

06/22/2026

🚫 NOTICE: TEMPORARY CLOSURES OF FITZGERALD YARD WASTE SITE🚫
There are some upcoming baseball tournaments where all containers will be removed to allow for extra parking. In February, the City Council approved the request from the Rapid City Sports Commission to remove the yard waste and recycling containers from the Fitzgerald Stadium remote sites for the following dates.
👉 Firecracker Baseball Tournament - Containers will be removed from Monday, June 29th to Sunday, July 5th. Containers will return on Monday, July 6th.
👉 Dave Ploof Legacy Baseball Tournament - Containers will be removed from Wednesday, July 8th to Sunday, July 12th. Containers will return on Monday, July 13th.
👉 American Legion State A Baseball Tournament - Containers will be removed from Sunday, July 26th to Sunday, August 2nd. Containers will return on Monday, August 3rd.
Please use the Nickel St location at 1117 Nickel St or hold onto the material until the containers return. The Landfill remote site will also be open!

06/18/2026

We have an amazing Rapid City Solid Waste Division crew that shows up in all sort of extremes to keep our community clean! 🙌💚 Check them out in action below and give them a shout out next time you see them out and about!! 🫶🚛

05/22/2026

Do you want to know about the people in Public Works? Check out what the APWA Ambassador has to say!

This National Public Works Week, Dr. Bertice Berry shines a light on the people working behind the scenes to keep communities running. From clean water and s...

05/21/2026

Our people do this work becuase they love it. Here's a couple more reasons why.

05/20/2026

A few more reasons that we love Public Works!