SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- It flows by placidly as it has for eons on one of the last hot and humid days of the waning summer.
Just don't jump into the Big Sioux River if you need to cool off.
That was Mayor Mike Huether's advice today at a news conference on the shores of the river at Cherry Rock Creek Park where he also noted the City of Sioux Falls is not mowing along the river.
That's because he thinks buffer strips will help clean the river of urban--and ag--run off. He also knows some people won't like that idea.
The river is getting demonstrably better, Huether said, but for it to become swimable will take not just buffer strips, but a change in attitudes.
"It's going to take years," Huether sighed about being able to safely swim in the Big Sioux. "And it's going to take an investment. And it's going to take a completely different mindset from what we're doing today, not only in Sioux Falls but clear across the state of South Dakota."
Huether attends the Fifth Annual Mayors Big Sioux River Water Summit tomorrow in Watertown to discuss the health of the river.
Watch most of today's news conference above.