Funding for St. Mary Diversion stays in continuing resolution

Additional funding for the St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance Works and Milk River Project stayed in the continuing resolution that passed Congress and was signed by President Joe Biden, averting a government shutdown.

After Elon Musk and then President-Elect Donald Trump opposed the bipartisan continuing resolution that was proposed, Congress put together a stripped-down bill to keep the government operating. It passed late last week.

The office of Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont, said the CR that passed included more than $74 million in funding for the St. Mary work.

Work is continuing on replacing the siphons in the 29-mile conveyance works that transport water from the St. Mary River to the Milk River, two of which suffered catastrophic failure in June, and a separate earlier planned project to replace the diversion dam also is ongoing.

The project to replace the diversion dam is part of a decades-old push to replace and upgrade the more-than 100-year-old system before complete failure.

The St. Mary Rehabilitation Working Group heard an update on the project last week in Havre, with BOR saying both projects are continuing and the replacement of the siphons still is expected to be complete by the end of August of next year, allowing the use of the diversion, which has been shut down since June, to resume.

Watch for more on the working group’s meeting in Havre in upcoming editions of Havre Weekly Chronicle.