Senator Tester Talks Infrastructure Bill and Milk River Project

On Monday, November 15, President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law during a ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House.

Part of this bill, $100 million, is tagged to go directly to the Milk River Project.

For many years, decades even, the Milk River Project (MRP) has been grossly underfunded, and in need of essential and vital repairs. Just last year, on May 17, 2020, drop 5 of the St. Mary diversion gave way and failed.

"There's been a lot of talk, a lot of proposals, and a lot of good people that have spent a lot of time in trying to get this infrastructure updated," said Sen. Tester. "I was able to get it up to $100 million to rehabilitate and rebuild the Milk River Project that supplies water all up and down the drainage. Without the St. Mary diversion, without the siphons, without the canals, without all of the things in the project, the Milk would run dry 6 out of 10 years."

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will pour key resources into upgrades, new construction, and repairs for the St. Mary/Milk River Project.

Nearly 20,000 Montanan's rely on the MRP for clean drinking water. It also helps in irrigation for more than 120,000 acres and nearly 700 farms.

Tester said, "It's vitally important. So when it comes to the cities and towns that are along the Milk River that depend upon it for water, when it comes to the irrigated farmland in the Milk River Valley that depend upon the Milk for irrigation, when it comes to those folks that want to do a little fishing and hunting, the water in that river is very, very important. It's also important that this remains affordable. It doesn't do you any good if you're broke. We were able to get this money inserted without a cost-share. That is a huge deal. This is a great day for Montana."

When asked whose court the ball is in now for the St. Mary/Milk River Project, Senator Tester said, "Now that it's been signed by the President, it's in the hands of the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). We got some good news today. If you'd have talked to me this morning, I would have said that the MRP would have to apply to the BOR to get these funds. We just found out that they don't think the MRP is going to have to apply, that they'll be able to put these funds out through their 60-day spending plan. So that's good news. That will help cut down on some of the red tape."

Sen. Tester added, "I'm going to be doing my best to hold the BOR's feet to the fire to make sure that they are user friendly to the folks that are heading up this project and get the money out the door sooner rather than later. The BOR has their spending plan done by the 14th of January, 2022. They said today that the MRP would not have to apply, they would just be included in their spending plan. When I hear them say that, that means shortly after that January 14 spending plan is produced, that money should be available. We are talking about Montana, where we have a construction season that's about six months long in the best of years. It's important that this money is available so that when the snow is gone and the frost comes out of the ground, folks can go to work."

In closing, Tester said, "The St. Mary/Milk River Project is an engineering marvel. It is an absolutely amazing project. But parts of it have been worn out for 40 years. We saw a couple of the drops fail last year. We need an investment in this project if we are going to have agriculture on the Hi-Line and have people living there. Water is life and this is key to our survival."