Milk River Project
The Lifeline of the Hi-Line
Ongoing Projects
Stay up-to-date as structures throughout the Milk River and St. Mary system move through the planning, design, and construction phases.
St. Mary Siphon Failure Updates
On June 17, 2024, the St. Mary Siphon failed, causing significant impacts to the Milk River Project. To stay informed click here.
MRJBOC invites the public to participate in the Draft Watershed-EIS Plan Scoping Meeting. Click here to learn more and get involved.
What is the Milk River Project?
The Milk River Project is beyond remarkable. With over a century of successful operation, this engineering feat diverts water from the St. Mary River on the Blackfeet Reservation, flowing through northern Montana and Glacier National Park, and across southern Alberta, Canada. This project is a testament to the intricate canals, siphons, and diversions designed for a seamless flow of water. The Milk River Project is essential to fulfill Montana’s water demands, catering to eight irrigation districts, Reclamation pump contracts, private contracts, the Blackfeet and Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, and other living communities along the Milk River. The project has created numerous recreational opportunities for the surrounding inhabitants, contributing to the ecosystem’s prosperity and wildlife habitats. With such a prominent and successful project, the Milk River Project has proven to be a symbol of limitless possibilities.
Benefits to Montana’s Economy
How the Milk River Project has been providing to Northern Montana for over 100 years.
18,000
Residents provided drinking water
1,000,000
People fed annually
140,000
Acres of irrigated lands
700+
Farms
729
River miles of wildlife habitat and recreation
Milk River Project Partners
Spring in Montana is a beautiful thing. Up at the Diversion Dam in Babb, these big snowflakes and muddy conditions may have halted construction for the rest of the week, but they’re a welcome sight for everyone in the area.
Here’s a quick look at what’s happening on site as the project continues to move forward. The bypass canal might look full in this photo, but it’s currently carrying about 615 cfs. Given the condition of the existing canal and the remaining 100-year old structures, we do not plan to increase flows beyond this. The bypass was designed to handle 650 cfs, so it’s doing exactly what it was built to do.
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🚨 Irrigation Season Alert – Milk River Project 🚨
The Milk River Joint Board voted last night to begin irrigation deliveries from Fresno Reservoir in May. Irrigation districts and Reclamation pump contracts served by Fresno will be allowed to turn on starting May 15, and acreage below Nelson Reservoir releases will start May 10.
The current plan is to operate for up to 40 days, through June 24, or shut off sooner once districts have been covered once. This will be followed by a temporary shutoff period to allow Fresno Reservoir storage to recover, with the goal of supporting a second irrigation beginning in mid-July.
Conservation will be critical during this first irrigation period. Districts will be limited to one irrigation per crop, with no second irrigations allowed during the first turn-on period. The goal is to preserve enough water to make a meaningful second irrigation possible later in the season, with some help from weather and runoff.
This plan is based on current conditions and may change depending on upcoming weather, runoff, and infrastructure constraints. The Board plans to meet again in June to reassess reservoir levels and determine next steps.
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Looks like all the farmers are hard at work in the fields… so we figured we better not get left behind. It’s seeding time at the St. Mary Siphon this week. 🌱🚜
Last Friday’s little blast of winter weather actually worked in our favor, bringing some much needed moisture to help the hydroseed take hold.
NW Construction has been staying busy, keeping one step ahead of BRY Hydroseeders by placing topsoil over disturbed areas and helping bring the site back to life. It will be pretty cool to watch these areas start their comeback!
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That moment so many of us have been waiting for is finally here — water has reached Fresno Reservoir just west of Havre after an 11-day journey from Babb. The St. Mary Canal is full again, and while we are all enjoying seeing water back in the system, it has been just as fun watching the wildlife stop in to check things out along the way. This little one was the latest visitor to swing by to perform a site inspection.
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As water makes its way through the canal and continues its river journey, our rough estimates have it reaching the U.S. border tomorrow morning around 8:03 a.m.
I wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look at one major preparation item that goes into turning the canal on. Many of you know that Bull Trout are listed as a threatened species in the United States, and we are fortunate to have a strong population in this area. Because of that listing, there are important precautions and monitoring efforts in place.
One of those efforts, led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife and Bureau of Reclamation is the installation of a PIT tag reader just downstream of the Diversion Dam bypass canal. This system helps capture data on fish moving through the area. Bull Trout are fitted with small tags, and when a tagged fish swims within range of the antenna, the reader detects it and records that movement.
The information collected helps track migration patterns and better understand the fish. And honestly, some of the distances these fish travel throughout the summer are pretty impressive.
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Well… as I’m writing this, water should be getting pretty close to the end of the drop system and into the Milk River!
It reached Drop 1 around 8:15 this morning, and we were able to catch a few shots of it arriving at the Hall’s Coulee Inlet Structure and moving through.
It’s moving slow and steady right now with the first initial releases—you can barely see a ripple at the outlet—but we will keep you posted as the flows start to increase. For now, here are a few shots of the initial water making the maiden voyage through new Hall's Coulee structure.
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