The Hi-Line community depends on the Milk River for drinking and irrigation water. In year two of the four year construction project, crews continue to make repairs on the 100-year old system with two of the major siphons completed.
"Last week, we completed, substantial construction at Hall's Cooley, which completes the overall construction of Saint Mary and Hall's Cooley Siphons, which allowed us to turn on water yesterday. And it is currently on its way to Hall's Cooley for the first time through the new structure, hopefully later today," Project Manager Bureau of Reclamation Darlington said.
Milk River Joint Board of Control Project Manager Jennifer Patrick called the completion of this phase a major milestone.
"There's been a lot of partnerships to get here that that have been amazing. But this it's kind of a sigh of relief. The Milk River basin, Fresno down, all along the canal. They're going to see water again," Patrick said.
A mild winter proved to be a game changer for workers, allowing crews to work consistently and putting the project ahead of schedule.
"From a construction perspective, it allowed us to work pretty consistently throughout the winter. And because of that, we're quite a ways ahead of schedule," Darlington said.
Project managers emphasized that the importance of the Milk River project for current and future Hi-Line residents cannot be overstated.
"Without the structure operating, we can't feed the 110 plus or 110,000 acres downstream, as well as the five municipalities, the refuge, the tribes that all receive water from this project. So it's incredibly important that this thing keeps functioning into the future," Ryan Newman, area manager for the Montana Area Office of the Bureau of Reclamation, said.
The next siphon to be worked on will be at Kennedy Creek. The target date for the entire Milk River project to be completed is mid-2028.
To learn more about the Milk River Project and see some of our previous reporting, click here.
