MINOT (AP) - The manager of the Northwest Area Water Supply project says construction could pick up in the next few years.

The NAWS project would bring Missouri River water to northwestern and north-central North Dakota. Workers finished placing a pipeline through the Souris River earlier this month.

Project manager Michelle Klose said NAWS has about $21 million in construction planned in the coming year.

Klose is seeking permission from a federal judge to build lines to Kenmare, Mohall, Upper Souris and All Seasons rural water systems and to replace a line to the Minot Air Force Base.

Construction of the pipelines requires court approval until an environmental impact statement is finished. The province of Manitoba sued for more environmental study, citing fears about the transfer of potentially harmful water species from the Souris River Basin to the Hudson Bay Basin.

NAWS officials plan to present the construction request to federal attorneys this week. Manitoba's attorneys will have a chance to weigh in.

Klose said a proposal to temporarily divert part of Minot's NAWS sales tax to help pay for a community bowl should not affect the project. City officials propose to ask voters to shift half the city's 1 percent NAWS sales tax for three years to help pay for an $11 million track and field complex.

A hearing is set for Feb. 5 on NAWS treatment alternatives in a draft environmental statement. The construction costs range from $8 million to $90 million. The bureau is taking comments on the draft until Feb. 28, before making a recommendation.

Klose gave an update Tuesday to members of the NAWS Advisory Committee.

"This has been a project that's celebrating its 20th year," said Commissioner Kenny Rogers of Maxbass. "Kenmare is probably going to get some relief from their problems, possibly even next year, but in my view, we need to be in a 911, and we need to ask for as much money as we need to get the north part of the project done and to get started on whatever they decide on the bio-treatment."

The state as a whole has waited a long time to get promised federal money for its municipal and rural water projects, he said.

"This waiting a lifetime for them to get completed needs to stop, and we need to get them finished," he said.

Klose said it appears NAWS could get $10 million next year to match the nearly $10 million appropriated for 2008, and increased oil revenue may mean the state can put more than $5 million into the project.