Ohs wants to tap special state fund for St. Mary canal

HELENA - The Martz administration plans to ask a legislative committee this month to endorse a request to tap a special account to help launch efforts to save a key source of water for the Hi-Line, the St. Mary Diversion.

Lt. Gov. Karl Ohs will make the pitch for spending $100,000 from the environmental contingency account, which was created to deal with emergencies that threaten the environment, for initial engineering work needed before the deteriorating water system can be renovated.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built the project in the early 1900s to transfer water from the St. Mary Rive...