Resolution supporting St. Mary Diversion repair passes Montana House

The Montana House of Representatives unanimously sent to the Senate a resolution urging authorization of funding and work to repair "the lifeline of the Hi-Line."

The bill, with primary sponsor Rep. Casey Knudsen, R-Malta, and 23 other sponsors including Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and Sens. Mike Lang, R-Malta, and Russ Tempel, R-Chester, directs the state government to support funding for the repair and replacement of the St. Mary Diversion and Milk River Project immediately and ask for appropriation funding to complete the much-needed repairs and replacement of the diversion and project; and for Congress to fix the United States Bureau of Reclamation's funding allocation required of project beneficiaries to make it reasonable and affordable.

The diversion supplies drinking water to some 18,000 Montanans and irrigates enough cropland to feed a million people.

A century of water on the Hi-Line

The St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance Works was one of the first projects the Bureau of Reclamation was authorized to build after it was created in 1902, with the project authorized in 1903. It uses a 29-mile system of dikes, canals, siphons and drop structures on the edge of Glacier National Park and on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation to transfer water from the St. Mary River to the North Fork of the Milk River, where it flows into Canada before returning to Montana.

The diversion, part of the irrigation system Milk River Project, supplies much of the water in the Milk River each year, as much as 90 percent or more of the water in drought years. Before the diversion was completed, the Milk River dried up 6-out-of-10 years.

The Milk River Project also includes storage locations such as Fresno Reservoir west of Havre, which was primarily created for the dual purpose of irrigation storage and flood control, and the irrigation storage location Nelson Reservoir near Malta.

While it was created as part of an irrigation system, the diversion also supplies municipal water systems for communities from Havre to Nashua, and also is a major supplier of water for recreation on the river and its reservoirs

Need for repairs

The diversion was authorized to be maintained through payments by its users, primarily irrigators with some funding by municipalities using it for a water supply.

In the last decade, that was amended to have the federal government paying about 25 percent and the users about 75 percent, but the amount of funding provided has led to Band-Aiding the system with minor repairs for decades.

More than 20 years ago, irrigators spearheaded a movement that led to collaboration with state and local government agencies and other users of the river to create the St. Mary Rehabilitation Working Group to find funding and authorization of major repairs to the system.

The founders and the group warned that, with the limited repairs being done, it was only a matter of time before major catastrophic failure occurred in the system.

And that happened this spring, when the bottom of the concrete drop structures at the end of the system collapsed, shutting down the diversion and forcing quick repairs to it, and two other drop structures that needed work, to get the system running again in October.

Support in Congress

All members of Montana's congressional delegation state they support the repair of the diversion, and the resolution passing through the Legislature.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., issued a release Tuesday supporting the resolution.

"The St. Mary Milk River Project is a true lifeline for folks on the Hi-Line, and I strongly support this resolution in the Montana Legislature. This project will benefit our agricultural economy, towns, and Tribal communities-clearly evidenced by the diverse group of stakeholders that have fought for it for decades-and it needs to be fully rehabilitated. I've been fighting alongside them for this restoration since my days in the state legislature, and will be reintroducing my legislation to move the rebuilding process forward and ensure that these critical upgrades are made without breaking the bank for local, farmers, ranchers, and other water users."

Tester has been pushing to increase investments in the Milk River Project since his time serving in the Montana Legislature, and his St. Mary's Reinvestment Act, cosponsored by Sen. Steve Daines would reduce the cost irrigators will have to pay to make critical investments in and improvements to the rest of the Milk River Project so that irrigators in Eastern Montana have the water security they need to survive.

The bill in the Congress would flip the payment amounts, with the federal government paying about 75 percent of the costs and the users paying about 25 percent.

Daines spokesperson Katie Schoettler told the Havre Daily News Wednesday that he also supports the resolution in the Legislature.

"Sen. Daines is in full support of repairing the St. Mary's Diversion," Schoettler said. "He has supported funding and resources for repair in the past and will continue to do so urgently."

While he was a U.S. representative, Gov. Greg Gianforte sponsored the companion bill to Tester's legislation in the House.

Harry Fones, a spokesperson for Rep. Matt Rosendale, who won the election to take Gianforte's place in the House when Gianforte ran for governor, said Rosendale also supports the work.

"Rep. Rosendale is working with stakeholders to find a quick, cost-effective solution to repair the 106-year-old system," Fones said. "Almost 20,000 Montanan's rely on the St. Mary's Diversion as their main source of water for drinking, irrigation, and recreational activities, it is imperative water users have reliable access."

A study on changing the funding formula to be based on the user's ability to pay also is under way.