Tester Presses Biden Administration to Ensure Farmers and Ranchers Impacted by St. Mary Siphon Failure are Eligible for Disaster Relief

In letter to Secretary of Agriculture, Senator urges Department to use authority to provide emergency assistance following catastrophic failure on the Milk River Irrigation Project 

As part of his continued work to rehabilitate the St. Mary Canal and support irrigators impacted by the catastrophic siphon failure that occurred earlier this year, U.S. Senator Jon Tester wrote a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack and Deputy Administrator John Berge strongly urging the Biden Administration to ensure farmers and ranchers impacted by the siphon failure are eligible for assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).

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. ELAP will provide assistance to impacted farmers and ranchers that experience livestock-related losses, including the loss of grazing lands, the added costs of potentially transporting feed and water for livestock, the lack of critical income from selling second or third cuttings, and the likelihood of diminished overall crop yields. 

“While the repair work on the irrigation system is making significant progress, the system won’t be fully operable again until after the 2025 growing season, ” Tester wrote.“This means that affected irrigators along the Milk River will likely experience a growing season entirely without irrigation or only one pull of water.  As such, it is critically important for USDA to begin working with local producers now to ensure farmers and ranchers have the tools and resources necessary to persevere as they face this challenge and continue to produce the best food in the world.”

Tester continued to specifically request assistance for these farmers and ranchers through ELAP: “As a first step, I urge you to use your statutory authority to determine that the siphon failure constitutes an eligible loss condition for producers seeking assistance under the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).  I am hearing concerns from producers in the area who raise grazing and forage crops that I believe ELAP assistance could help resolve.”

Tester concluded by calling for the Administration to take action on the determination: “That’s why I respectfully request that you swiftly make this determination to give the farmers and ranchers that rely on the Milk River Irrigation Project some certainty going into the growing season.”

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.

In early August, as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester secured federal funding for the Milk River Project 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 Tester’s full letter to Secretary Vilsack and Deputy Administrator Berge HERE.