Work begins on broken irrigation diversion pipe in Montana

By Medicine Hat News on October 22, 2024.

@MedicineHatNews

Construction in Montana to replace pipe in a failed irrigation diversion on the St. Mary’s and Milk River basins was scheduled to begin Monday.

The Havre Daily News reported that delivery of sections of the 90-inch diameter steel pipe began last week, and a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation schedule outlines Oct. 21 at the beginning of US$51 million in replacement work funded by the U.S. federal and Montana governments.

The siphon, which transfers water from the St. Mary’s system to the Milk River System at Babb, Mont. (south of Cardston), failed on June 17. That halted transfers which typically account for 60 to 80 per cent of the summer flow on the Milk River.

In response, the Town of Milk River, Alta. imposed heavy restrictions on non-essential water use this summer, though some were eased in early September.

The river flows back south near Onefour, Alta. to the U.S. where it supplies communities and about 120,000 acres of irrigation in north central Montana, including Hill County.

According to the Bureau of Reclamation, river restoration is expected in mid-November, bridge completion in May 2025, then inlet and outlet work next June. The entire project, including US$18 million for the related Halls Coulee Siphon, has a tentative completion date of next September.

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