HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – At Friday’s St. Mary’s Rehabilitation Working Group meeting, Bureau of Reclamation Engineer Steve Darlinton provided an update on the Fresno Safety of Dams project.
Darlinton says at a recent meeting of the Dam Safety Advisory Team, spillway repairs were added to the project, bringing the estimated total cost from $71 to $77 million.
Designs are expected to be fully completed by early to mid February, with the contract out for bid by June, with it being awarded by March of 2023. Dirt moving and dewatering will follow.
The basis of negotiation was approved recently by the BOR commissioner, allowing the process to start the repayment contracts to move forward.
“(We are) sending out letters to the municipalities and the irrigation districts and the pumpers,” says Darlinton. “It’s also the step we’ve been waiting for to start public meetings. So we’ll work with the irrigation districts and Jen (Patrick) on scheduling and posting those public meetings once we get those letters and contracts sent out. So people have the chance to look at them, digest them a little bit. And then if there’s questions, we’ll be able to answer those.”
Construction is expected to take three years, and Darlinton has said impacts to irrigators and the fishery during the project will be minimal.
The federal government will be paying 85 percent of the costs, while water users will have to pay the other 15 percent. That amount can be paid over 50 years and without interest.
