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By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The St. Mary’s Rehabilitation Working Group convened virtually on Thursday afternoon to discuss the up to $100 million in non-reimbursable funding they will be receiving thanks to the recently signed infrastructure bill.
A vast majority of the funds are expected to be used to fix the Diversion Dam at the head of the canal. Current estimates have that project at $65 million for construction costs. With non-construction costs added, estimates are between $80-90 million.
“It is a time for celebration. Special thanks to our Congressional team in D.C. for getting this done, and for all the good work that’s done by everyone,” said Lieutenant Governor Kristen Juras, Co-Chair of the Working Group.
Marko Manoukian, the other Co-Chair, noted that it has been 18 years to the month since the Working Group first convened.
“I just can’t be more appreciative of where we are now with (the President’s) signature on the 15th and the (bill’s) passage on the 6th. It’s almost 18 years to the day when Karl Ohs, the former Lieutenant Governor, brought us all together in November 2003. So (to get this funding) is a great accomplishment.”
The money from the infrastructure bill is expected to be ready to be used on the System in by sometime in the first half of 2022.
Steve Darlinton of the Bureau of Reclamation says 30 percent designs on the Diversion Dam project have already been completed, and they are now working on 60 percent designs.
In a best case scenario, Darlinton said dirt will begin moving on the project in 2024. This is because there are still many steps in the process that need to be completed, such as field explorations, coordination with the Blackfeet Tribe to ensure the preservation of cultural sites, and acquisitions.
“With this funding in hand, we can go and do those field explorations, but as you guys know, field explorations in Babb this time of year until April is not possible,” Darlinton said. “So that kind of pushes some of the design stuff down. During that same time frame, we’ll be able to start our conversations, primarily with the Blackfeet, their Tribal cultural office. Land and right-of-way around the dam is going to be a pretty big conversation we’ll have to have, and then the environmental side of it. So those paths are going to take a while as well. So assuming that we get through all that through (the end of) 2022, we can start acquisitions and hopefully have our contract in place by 2024. So that’s the way we see kind of the best case scenario for moving the dirt.”
The Working Group is expected to hold an in-person meeting sometime in January.
St. Mary’s Reinvestment Act
Although repairs to the Diversion Dam are now getting set in motion, there are other parts of the system that are also in critical need of rehabilitation.
That’s why the Working Group, along with Montana’s Congressional Delegation say they continue moving forward with trying to pass the St. Mary’s Reinvestment Act.
“It’s another $50 million that could potentially be put towards this project,” Tester told New Media Broadcasters by phone following the meeting. “We’re going to continue to push. Look, for the St. Mary’s Project to get totally renovated, projections are between $200-225 million. They are going to be able to use $100 million pretty easily. The projects aren’t going to be hard to find to bring this money to good use. And they will need some more. So I just think it’s really important that we continue to look for opportunities moving forward. All this stuff takes time in the U.S. Senate.”
The ability-to-pay study the bill calls for is ongoing, and will set the cost share allocation for the project (not including the up to $100 million in non-reimbursable funds from the infrastructure bill).
Representatives with the offices of Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines say they hope to get the bill a scheduled hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
