Tester Secures $533,000 for Water System Improvements in Daniels County

Grant funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Waste and Water Disposal grant program

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced $533,000 to supplement an original bid to make improvements to the outdated water system in Scobey, Montana.

“In these unprecedented times, folks in our frontier communities should have peace of mind knowing they have access to clean water,” said Tester. “This investment will help Scobey make critical improvements to their water system, ensuring they have access to clean water and sufficient fire hydrants without emptying their pocketbooks.”

The funding will replace and upsize cast iron water mains within the system with minimum 8-inch diameter PVC water mains to make up for the average loss of over 40% of their pumped water annually. Additionally, the funding will replace 16 fire hydrants and add another 32 hydrants to meet Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Circular 1 and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) fire code regulations.

Tester has worked diligently to supply Montana water and wastewater systems with funding to stay up-to-date. He secured nearly $3 million for Whitehall, Sweet Grass County, Whitefish, Cascade County, Seeley Lake, Sanders County, and Toole County. Additionally, he secured an additional $2 million to make upgrades to Geraldine’s water system.