$3.9 million set for Rocky Boy regional water project

The members of Montana's congressional delegation all announced in seperate press releases Wednesday that a water project in north-central Montana will receive some funding in the coming year.

U. S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg announced that the federal Bureau of Reclamation has set $3.9 million for work on the Rocky Boy's/North Central Montana regional water system.

The system is designed to treat water from Lake Elwell at Tiber Dam south of Chester and transport it to Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and to residents of 22 communities across the region including Big Sandy, Box Elder, Havre, the Hill County Water District and the North Havre Water District in northern Hill County.

Mary Heller, the general manager of the North Central Montana Regional Water Authority, said this morning that where the money would be used is not yet known.

The authority and the tribal government at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation will decide how to split the allocation, and then each entity will have to decide how to use its share, Heller said.

In his release, Tester said that, after money was appropriated to the Bureau of Reclamation to use on water projects, he wrote the bureau to support Montana projects.

The bureau also approved $9 million for use on the Fort Peck/Dry Prairie water system which will provide water on Fort Peck Indian Reservation and to communities off the reservation.

"This is an investment in Montana's clean water and economic development, " Tester said in his release. "Upgrading our water infrastructure will create jobs and pay off for generations to come. "

Chippewa Cree Tribal Chair Bruce Sunchild thanked Tester in the release.

"This is great news, " Sunchild said. "There is no question this would not have happened without his support. "

Heller also thanked Tester, and the bureau, for the allocation.

"On behalf of the Rocky Boy's/North Central Montana regional water system project, I would like to thank the Department of Interior-Bureau of Reclamation for their due diligence with this appropriation, " Heller said this morning. "In addition, many thanks go to Senator Tester for his hard work securing these funds. We look forward to helping our fellow Montanans obtain jobs, economic growth and — most importantly — drinking water.

The project has received allocations far short of its projected total of more than $200 million cost, estimated some 10 years ago.

Montana's lawmakers had added appropriations to bring some $5 million to $9 million a year prior to the current ban on earmarks.

$20 million also was added to the project in 2009 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Smaller projects, which could be connected to the main system once it is completed, have been done with the funding. Those include connecting some houses on Rocky Boy to a reverse osmosis treatment plant and connecting members of the rural North Havre Water District to the Havre water treatment plant.

Heller said the next projects could be building a line from Conrad to Brady; from Shelby north to Sweetgrass; from Shelby to Cut Bank; or from where the core line will be placed to Joplin.