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
Big milestone out at Hall’s Coulee this week!
The Sletten Construction crew made their FINAL concrete pour on the siphon inlet yesterday, casting the energy dissipators down in the bottom. While there is still plenty of work ahead with punch list items, setting the steel beams, grates, handrails, and finishing details, this marks the end of major concrete work at the site.
For now, that’s a wrap on the big pours and the steady line of SW Concrete trucks hauling mud out here for the season. A big thank you to SW Concrete, AJ Concrete Pumping Services, and Terracon for sticking with us and helping make these demanding pour schedules happen.
Hats off to this great group out there making it happen every day!
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Phenomenal work by the crews at NW Construction, Inc. on the St. Mary's Canal Siphon Replacement project earned them two awards: "Best Environmental Project" and "Best Concrete - Agricultural."
#LetsBuildMT #mca2025awards
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Don’t forget, the public comment period for the Draft Watershed Plan–Environmental Impact Statement for the Milk River and St. Mary River Watersheds is still open through March 30, 2026.
This is your opportunity to review the proposed plan and share your input. Public feedback is an important part of this process, and we encourage anyone interested to take a look and submit comments.
You can view the Draft Plan–EIS here: www.milkriverproject.com/projects/watershed
Be sure to get your comments in before the deadline!
Just as an FYI, a Watershed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a planning and decision-making tool required under NEPA. It evaluates different alternatives for improving a watershed and analyzes potential environmental, social, and economic impacts. It helps agencies and stakeholders make informed decisions, supports future funding opportunities, and incorporates public and agency input.
It does not authorize construction or replace permitting and consultation. Instead, it lays the groundwork so that if individual projects move forward, they can go through the proper design, permitting, and compliance processes.
So just to summarize, a Watershed EIS:
❌ Does NOT authorize construction
❌ Does NOT finalize designs
❌ Does NOT replace permitting or consultation ... See MoreSee Less
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Since we have been hopping around highlighting all of the activity up on the St. Mary Canal in Babb this week, it felt like a good time to check back in at the Diversion Dam.
As you can see, steady progress continues. Crews have recently poured fresh mud mat concrete, and the diversion portion of the dam is really starting to come together and take shape.
The Montana wind has definitely made its presence known here too, slowing some of the wall construction. Swinging those large rebar mats with a crane in high winds is not only difficult, but unsafe, so safety always comes first. Even with those challenges, the crews continue to make solid progress.
This is a big structure, and it is exciting to see it coming to life. We will keep things moving through the summer, so stay tuned for more updates!
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We haven’t checked in at the St. Mary Siphon site for a bit, so here’s a quick update.
Montana Lines, Inc. is now installing the sacrificial anode cathodic protection system. It might sound technical, but it plays a big role in protecting the pipeline long term.
Any metal exposed to the elements will naturally corrode over time. These anodes are designed to take that hit instead of the pipeline. They act as a sacrificial metal, corroding in place of the steel pipe and protecting it through an electrochemical reaction.
It is one of those behind the scenes pieces of the project that you won’t see once everything is backfilled, but it helps extend the life of the pipeline, reduce maintenance, and keep the system running reliably for years to come.
This is not the company we are using to install them but they have a great animated video explaining the process: youtu.be/cZg4bfEnLcU?si=fjB1x2eSV6pDh422 ... See MoreSee Less
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The wind finally gave us a little break over the weekend, and the Northwest Linings & Geotextile Products, Inc. crews wasted no time getting to work.
The Hall’s Coulee siphon outlet liner is now fully installed, and NW Construction is placing the topping material over it to secure everything in place. Work is underway on the inlet lining today as well. You will see in the photos that crews dig a trench along the edges to key in the liner, helping anchor it and keep it from shifting.
Once the liner is set, topping material is placed over the top to secure and protect it for the long haul. This material was sourced from a gravel pit right next to the project, cleaned and processed onsite throughout the winter, specifically for liner topping. By using material from an adjacent source versus bringing it in, we also hope to reduce the risk of introducing unwanted or invasive plant species to the area.
Great progress all around as we keep things moving forward.
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