Tester Secures More Than $4 Million to Protect Three Forks from Flooding and Natural Disasters

Funding will go towards flood mitigation, climate resiliency, and economic growth projects

As part of his continued efforts to mitigate effects of extreme flooding in Montana, U.S. Senator Jon Tester secured $4,152,375 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funding to go towards the Three Forks Confluence Project, which will remove the western portion of the city from the Jefferson River floodplains and floodway to bolster the local economy.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Tester secured these funds through the FY21 government funding bill.  

“Flooding can be devastating for Montana farmers, ranchers, families, and small businesses, and it’s critical that folks in Three Forks have the resources and infrastructure they need as these disasters become more common,” said Tester. “That’s why I’m proud to have secured funding to make Three Forks a safer place to live, and I’ll keep working to ensure this project is completed swiftly and effectively.”

The Three Forks Confluence Project will remove 946 structures from the Jefferson River floodplains, mitigating an estimated $62-96 million in damages to residential structures in the event of a 100-year flood. Eight critical facilities will also be removed from the floodplain, including the fire hall, city hall, ambulance barn, medical clinic, pharmacy, the community’s only school, senior center, and food bank. The project also protects six properties on the National Register of Historic Places: the Headwaters Heritage Museum, Airway Radio Station, Ruby Theatre, Sacajawea Hotel, Adams Block, and Three Valleys State Bank. The project will also provide additional water storage for the Three Forks Rural Fire District to help address the risk of wildland fire, hay field fire, and rural home fire.

As a third-generation Montana farmer, Tester has consistently advocated for resources to mitigate effects of flooding and natural disaster in Montana. In 2022, Tester urged FEMA to make Montana eligible to receive funds through FEMA’s new Swift Current Initiative, which would make communities affected by severe flooding eligible for Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA). 

The Swift Current Initiative provides flood mitigation assistance funding to properties insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that suffer severe flood damage, and is a new program stemming from Tester’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The initiative makes flood mitigation assistance available as quickly and equitably as possible to reduce the damage-repair cycle of repetitively flooded and substantially damaged buildings insured under the NFIP.