In Response to Tester Pressure, White House Pledges to Include St. Mary Siphon Failure in Key Aid Package

Tester called on Biden to include the Milk River Project in his Administration’s domestic supplemental package;

In response to Tester, Administration is “committed to working with the Congress to address the recent breach of the St. Mary Canal Siphon near Babb, Montana”

In direct response to pressure from U.S. Senator Jon Tester, the Biden Administration announced today that it is committed to including critical aid for repairs along the Milk River Project and the St. Mary siphon burst in a key domestic supplemental spending package.

Tester this month called on President Biden to include the Milk River Project in his Administration’s domestic supplemental package, which would make federal funding available to assist in the reconstruction of the St. Mary’s canal. The White House wrote in response today to pressure from Tester that they are “committed to working with the Congress to address the recent breach of the St. Mary Canal Siphon near Babb, Montana.”

“North Central Montana water users rely on the Milk River Project to support their farm operations that feed the world and to keep their small businesses running,” said Tester. “That’s why immediately after the St. Mary siphon burst happened up near Babb, I called on this Administration to include the Milk River Project in its domestic supplemental aid package. I’m glad to see that this Administration listened not only to me, but to the thousands of impacted Montanans living in North Central Montana who simply can’t afford to wait any longer for relief.”

In addition to urging the Administration to include critical funding in its supplemental package, Tester last week 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’s canal. The bill will also 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 month, 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, 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’s canal. 

You can read the Administration’s full letter on the domestic supplemental package HERE.