Joseph T. Burns: “today I am introducing the St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance Works and Milk River Project Act of 2006. In 1903…”

“today I am introducing the St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance Works and Milk River Project Act of 2006. In 1903, Secretary of Interior Hitchcock authorized construction of the Milk River Project as one of the first five reclamation projects under the new reclamation service. Two years later, construction was authorized for the St. Mary Diversion Facilities. Completed in 1915, the Milk River Project and the St. Mary Diversion Facilities have been in operation for nearly 100 years with minimum repairs and improvements. The Milk River Project and the accompanying St. Mary Diversion Facilities are known as the Lifeline of the Hi-Line. The St. Mary and Milk River basins are home to approximately 70,000 people with a meager per capita income of approximately $19,500. Most of these people depend--directly or indirectly--on the project and would be dramatically impacted by its failure and the loss of water. The Milk River is the backbone of the region's agricultural economy. It provides water to irrigate over 110,000 acres on approximately 660 farms. This project provides municipal water to approximately 14,000 people. Fisheries, recreation, tourism, water quality, and wildlife are all impacted by the water flow. But now the St. Mary Diversion Facilities and the Milk River Project are facing catastrophic failure. The steel siphons have leaks and slope stability problems.…”