Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to dri

Montanans saw many records shattered in 2011 when it comes to water. While many citizens prayed for years that our drought would end, I doubt any of us ever thought this might be accomplished in one season.

One might think that there can be no such thing as too much water in the realm of public drinking water supply systems. However, the flooding wreaked havoc on public water infrastructure and water system reliability. Communities across the state were faced with high turbidity and much of the aging infrastructure was stressed beyond measure to maintain safe drinking water for their citizens.

The 2010 and 2011 floods on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and the 2011 floods across the state served as a stark reminder of why the Rocky Boy's/North Central Montana Regional Water System project is needed in north-central Montana.

As a reminder, the water project is a congressionally authorized project that will distribute clean drinking water using the water rights of the Chippewa Cree Tribe from Tiber Reservoir to meet tribal, municipal, rural and industrial water needs for Rocky Boy's reservation and seven counties in north-central Montana. The federal legislation identified the tribal and shared infrastructure as "core" and the non-tribal infrastructure as "non-core."

The year 2011 saw many completion milestones with the core portion of the project. The intake superstructure at Tiber Reservoir was finished, and only the pump installations remain for that building. The core system pipeline segments 1 and 2 reached the 14-mile mark for the 36-inch steel transmission pipeline. Also completed were 8,000 lineal feet of core system pipeline segment #3a and some on-reservation pipelines.

The non-core portion of the project achieved another milestone with the completion of the Tiber service area segment. This interim solution will supply clean drinking water to South Chester County Water District and Riverview Colony with the purchase of water from Tiber County Water District.

As we look to 2012 and future years for north-central Montana, we must not forget why this project exists. Anyone associated with public drinking water is familiar with the Safe Drinking Water Act and the regulations mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce that act. They do not have to be reminded of how stressed our aging infrastructure is when it comes to public drinking water supply systems here in Montana. Water treatment plants, storage facilities and distribution systems that are, in many cases, well over 50 years old are at risk of enforcement action by the Department of Environmental Quality because that infrastructure can no longer adequately protect human health. The reality is, however, our communities cannot afford to pay for the cost of updating these aging systems to comply with mandated EPA regulations.

Our public drinking water supplies in north-central Montana — whether in slim quantity or in overabundance — will continue to be under increasing regulatory pressure. While needed for the safety of human health, the regulations and the cost of infrastructure will never decrease.

The core portion of the project will seek future funds to build the water treatment plant at Tiber Reservoir. The 36-inch core pipeline will continue to be constructed east to Box Elder, and on-reservation work will also continue.

The non-core portion has outlined four segments as possible future project build-outs; Shelby to Cut Bank, Shelby to Sweet Grass, Conrad to Brady, and Hill County Water District. Of these four possible segments, it has not yet been decided which one will be constructed first.

The RB/NCMRWS project has been able to provide jobs to over 550 workers since the project's beginning. This includes jobs in a wide variety of sectors including raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, suppliers, construction, engineering, management, administration, legal, easements acquisition and more. This is the largest project occurring in north-central Montana, and the livelihood for many hard-working Montanans depends on it.

On behalf of the Rocky Boy's/North Central Montana Regional Water System project, I wish to thank the Montana congressional delegation, state legislators and the federal and state government agencies who have fought to fund this project. Without federal appropriations, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the Treasure State Endowment Regional Water System Program and the State Revolving Fund programs, this project would not be where it is today.

We look forward to more progress in 2012, which will provide continued employment, future prosperity and — most importantly — clean drinking water for the residents of north-central Montana.

(Mary A. Heller is the general manager for the North Central Montana Regional Water Authority in Havre. She partners with the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation for the Rocky Boy's/North Central Montana Regional Water System project. She can be reached via email: [email protected].)