After Tester Push, Farmers and Ranchers Impacted by St. Mary Siphon Failure Are Eligible for Initial Disaster Relief

Senator is also leading Milk River Irrigators Relief Act to expand eligibility for irrigators under the Federal Crop Insurance Program and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program

Following pressure from U.S. Senator Jon Tester, farmers and ranchers impacted by the catastrophic siphon failure on the St. Mary Canal are now eligible for assistance this year through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP). This comes as part of Tester’s continued push to rehabilitate the St. Mary Canal and support irrigators impacted by the siphon failure that occurred earlier this year.  

Irrigators along the Milk River are expected to experience a growing season entirely without irrigation or only one pull of water due to impacts of the siphon failure. Today’s action means that irrigators are eligible for ELAP assistance for the 2024 growing season with financial assistance to cover feed purchases and hauling costs for the remainder of 2024. Tester is also pushing to extend this eligibility to losses that may occur during the 2025 season.

Tester also announced today he is leading the Milk River Irrigators Relief Act to ensure that beyond livestock producers, impacted farmers and ranchers are also eligible for disaster assistance for damages to crop yields through the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP).  The bill also directs the Secretary of Agriculture to consider affected acres as irrigated, rather than non-irrigated, ensuring that producers receive necessary relief.

“The catastrophic siphon failure on the St. Mary canal was devastating to small businesses, families, and irrigators in north central Montana – and these farmers and ranchers simply can’t afford to go through a growing season entirely without irrigation or with only one pull of water,” said Tester. “I called on USDA to use their authority to approve ELAP funding for livestock losses and I’m glad to see them take this important step, but the work isn’t over. I will keep pushing to expand this relief for future livestock losses, and fight to get my Milk River Irrigators Relief Act across the finish line so that farmers and ranchers along the Milk also get the certainty they need and we can make these communities whole.”

Earlier this year, a major siphon burst on the Milk River Project near Babb, Montana resulted in thousands of gallons of water flooding the surrounding area, causing extensive damage to local businesses, and impacting vital irrigation to farmland in the surrounding area. This summer, as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester secured federal funding to make repairs to the St. Mary Canal in the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bill. The bill, which will advance to the full Senate as part of the FY25 appropriations package, includes federal funding for repairs to the St. Mary canal. This funding is non-reimbursable, and comes at no cost to local communities. 

In July, in direct response to pressure from Tester, the Biden Administration announced they would immediately begin rehabilitation work along the Milk River Project. The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) agreed to fund the repairs through existing emergency authorities under Public Law 111-11. Tester successfully pushed President Biden to include the Milk River Project in his Administration’s domestic supplemental package, which will make federal funding available to pay for the reconstruction of the St. Mary Canal. Tester also secured an additional $2 million to bridge the gap between the expiration of the initial BOR emergency funds on November 1, 2024 and the release of additional funding.

In June, Tester took to the Senate floor to successfully pass his bipartisan Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC) Water Rights Settlement Act, which would provide critical funding for repairs on the Milk River Project. Tester’s Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC) Water Rights Settlement Act will provide $1.3 billion to improve infrastructure and economic development for the Fort Belknap Indian Community and improve the efficiency of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Milk River Project, which furnishes water for the irrigation of about 121,000 acres of Tribal and non-Tribal land. The bill specifically includes $275 million to rehabilitate the St. Mary Canal, and will restore Tribal management to 38,462 acres of state and federal land for the FBIC. Tester successfully passed the FBIC Water Compact through the Senate earlier this Congress as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans stripped it from the final package.

Earlier this summer, Tester announced that a more than $88 million contract was awarded to Montana-based NW Construction to complete the St. Mary Diversion Dam Replacement project. The contract is part of the up to $100 million Tester secured for the Milk River Project through his bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which he negotiated and helped pass into law. Tester was the only member of Montana’s Congressional delegation to support the legislation and to support additional improvements to the St. Mary Canal.

Read full text of the Milk River Irrigators Relief Act HERE.

Read Tester’s full letter to Secretary Vilsack and Deputy Administrator Berge HERE.