St. Mary canal siphons burst resulting in severe erosion and flooding in the surrounding area. (Photo via U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)
When the St. Mary pipelines were built to provide water in 1915 to northern Montana, construction workers hit winter, too.
Then, said Jennifer Patrick, the project manager for the Milk River Irrigation Project Joint Board of Control, they had no choice but to wait — it was simply too cold to pour concrete.
One-hundred ten years later, more than 18,000 people depend on the water that’s diverted near Babb from the Milk River in order to irrigate some of the state’s richest farmland.
Last summer, one of the huge lines used for collecting water failed, dealing a blow to farmers, ranchers and residents even as far away as Canada. Federal leaders in Congress and state leaders rushed to figure a solution. Part of that was funding that is now uncertain, due to the federal funding freeze announced by President Donald J. Trump, and because the project was part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, often targeted by the new administration as an example of waste.
Yet, despite temperatures that have dipped below zero and stayed stubbornly there, Patrick said the construction project is on schedule as workers use the latest chemical mixtures of concrete to pour in colder weather. That has made a big difference in how quickly the project is progressing. Patrick said large temporary heat shacks are being used so that welders can continue to stay on schedule. Sometimes, that means a temperature swing of more than 140 degrees from outside to inside.
All of the work would have come to an immediate halt, she said, if not for the forward-looking help of state lawmakers and the Gianforte administration, which made the project eligible for a revolving loan program. Right now, a $35 million loan is paying the bills keeping the work moving. She said that if the federal government, which has been ordered to review projects on a case-by-case basis, releases the funds in the next couple of months, there will be no work stoppage. However, if funding stalls for longer than that, the project will delay, bringing uncertainty for the northern tier of the state, which relies on the siphon system for water, as it has for more than a century.
The Daily Montanan reached out U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy for comments or updates about the funding and whether they’re pushing to release the funds. Neither office responded back about the project.
“We’re paying a lot for winter construction, but we have to get this going,” Patrick told the Daily Montanan.
The totals for the overall project cost is estimated at $78.9 million.
Pro-Pipe Construction from Frenchtown is handling the welding of the 90-inch steel siphons.
“So far, 3,900 of the planned 6,444 feet have been installed,” Patrick said in a written update.
The timeline originally had set a late summer 2025 completion date, and currently Patrick said the project is on time.
“Given the freezing temperatures, special measures — including blanketing, heating and modified concrete mix designs — are being used to making the integrity of the pours. So far, test results indicate these techniques are working as planned,” Patrick added.
Patrick said the work is continuing, thanks in large part to a loan agreement that was pushed by Sen. Mike Lang, R-Malta, and Rep. Paul Russ, D-Havre, who made the measure part of House Bill 6 in 2023.
“Without state funding and all the help we’ve gotten from the budget office and the governor, we would not be moving forward,” Patrick said. “We’re obviously not the only project with a federal funding hold. But we’re a good project, and we’re confident in a review, we’re just held up with others.”
She said that a funding lapse of three months is about as long as the project could survive on state money alone.
“Even a week of water is important, and every day the construction crews can push it is time we can get,” Patrick said. She did say, though, a heavy snowfall could delay the project for weeks.
She said the impacts of the project finishing late or being delayed would be an economic loss of $60 million to $70 million annually. However, she said that many people don’t realize how many farms and communities, mostly clustered around Montana’s Hi-Line, would be hurt.
“People say, ‘How many miles?’ Fitzpatrick laughed. “This serves 700 miles of community.”