St. Mary Working Group to meet in Havre
St. Mary Working Group to meet in Havre
Tim Leeds
The group working to find a way to repair and rebuild the system providing much of the water from Havre to Glasgow will meet Thursday at the Duck Inn in Havre.
The meeting of the St. Mary Rehabilitation Group will focus on recent activities of the group and its monthly business, it said in a press release.
The meeting is scheduled to run Thursday from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. in the Antique Room at the Duck Inn.
The group is co-chaired by Blaine County farmer Randy Reed and Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger. It was formed in 2003 to work with the irrigation group Milk River Joint Board of Control and the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation-Water Conservation to find a solution to rehabilitating the St. Mary Diversion on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation that supplies most of the water flowing through the Milk River each year.
Local irrigators and officials began the push nearly 10 years ago, concerned that the aging facilities would suffer a catastrophic failure if not rebuilt.
The system, part of the Milk River irrigation project, was authorized in 1903, one of the first projects of the newly formed U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. It uses a storage dam, Sherburne Dam, and a complex series of dams, canals and siphons to divert water from the St. Mary River more than 29 miles into the Milk River. As the project was authorized for irrigation, the irrigators using the water have primarily been responsible for funding its maintenance and upkeep since it began operation. The system also provides municipal water — both Havre and Chinook contract to use a portion of the water provided by the system — and opportunities for recreation in the Milk River and reservoirs that are part of the irrigation project. That includes Fresno Reservoir west of Havre. The funding provided by annual fees was not enough to provide major repairs in the diversion system, and in 2007 Congress authorized a rehabilitation project. While little money has yet been provided for the required work, Congress set a price tag at $153 million. One project — being done outside of the realm of the working group — is close to beginning.
Plans to redesign and rebuild the dam and intake structure that diverts water into the canal system are being finalized. That project is being done under the auspices of improving conditions for the bull trout, a threatened species that lives in the system.
Congress appropriated $3 million to study the impact of the diversion on the bull trout, and a design has been drafted to use fish ladders to allow the fish to migrate upstream to spawn and fish traps to prevent bull trout from being diverted to the Milk River along with the water.
Public meetings required for the National Environmental Policy Act scoping requirements were planned to be held for that project this fall.
The group working to find a way to repair and rebuild the system providing much of the water from Havre to Glasgow will meet Thursday at the Duck Inn in Havre.
The meeting of the St. Mary Rehabilitation Group will focus on recent activities of the group and its monthly business, it said in a press release.
The meeting is scheduled to run Thursday from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. in the Antique Room at the Duck Inn.
The group is co-chaired by Blaine County farmer Randy Reed and Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger. It was formed in 2003 to work with the irrigation group Milk River Joint Board of Control and the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation-Water Conservation to find a solution to rehabilitating the St. Mary Diversion on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation that supplies most of the water flowing through the Milk River each year.
Local irrigators and officials began the push nearly 10 years ago, concerned that the aging facilities would suffer a catastrophic failure if not rebuilt.
The system, part of the Milk River irrigation project, was authorized in 1903, one of the first projects of the newly formed U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. It uses a storage dam, Sherburne Dam, and a complex series of dams, canals and siphons to divert water from the St. Mary River more than 29 miles into the Milk River. As the project was authorized for irrigation, the irrigators using the water have primarily been responsible for funding its maintenance and upkeep since it began operation. The system also provides municipal water — both Havre and Chinook contract to use a portion of the water provided by the system — and opportunities for recreation in the Milk River and reservoirs that are part of the irrigation project. That includes Fresno Reservoir west of Havre. The funding provided by annual fees was not enough to provide major repairs in the diversion system, and in 2007 Congress authorized a rehabilitation project. While little money has yet been provided for the required work, Congress set a price tag at $153 million. One project — being done outside of the realm of the working group — is close to beginning.
Plans to redesign and rebuild the dam and intake structure that diverts water into the canal system are being finalized. That project is being done under the auspices of improving conditions for the bull trout, a threatened species that lives in the system.
Congress appropriated $3 million to study the impact of the diversion on the bull trout, and a design has been drafted to use fish ladders to allow the fish to migrate upstream to spawn and fish traps to prevent bull trout from being diverted to the Milk River along with the water.
Public meetings required for the National Environmental Policy Act scoping requirements were planned to be held for that project this fall.
