Senator tries to add St. Mary bill to defense authorization

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., announced he is trying to add a change to how the St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance is funded to a must-pass defense bill.

Daines announced Wednesday he was trying to add the St. Mary’s Reinvestment Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA.

The action comes as work has started to repair two drop structures on the 29-mile diversion that takes water from the St. Mary River and transports it to the Milk River.

One of those structures collapsed in May, shutting down the century-old system that provides much of the water in the Milk River.

The system was authorized as part of the Milk River Project Irrigation system and is funded primarily by water users, who pay 75 percent of the operation and maintenance.

The system has been patched together due to lack of funding over the years, and a group started an effort nearly 20 years ago to find funding to rehabilitate the diversion system before it underwent catastrophic failure, which is what happened this spring.

Daines and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., are sponsoring legislation to shift the funding so the federal government pays about 75 percent and the users pay about 25 percent.

That is the legislation Daines is trying to add to the NDAA.

“I’m fighting to repair the St. Mary River project however I can,” Daines said in a release. “This is about supporting jobs and ensuring Montana farmers, ranchers, and communities on the Hi-Line have this critical water infrastructure project fully restored. Montanans need this project done.” 

Sen. Tester has been working on the St. Mary Diversion rehabilitation essentially since he was elected to Congress in 2006, spokesman Roy Lowenstein said.

“Jon has been fighting for years to get this critical legislation done, and he supports finishing the job using whatever tools available,” Lowenstein said this morning. “Jon is actively working with irrigators, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Committee to improve the bill and finally get it passed.”