It’s a race against time to repair critical infrastructure that provides drinking and irrigation water to people along Montana’s Hi Line. But construction of St. Mary’s Canal has hit a major snag.
On Friday, Milk River Project coordinators shared an update on the construction saying new federal regulations have stopped deliveries of concrete from the project’s supplier in Canada.
The issue centers around a new rule for how the concrete shipments are booked and the Port of Piegan Port of Entry near Babb. Project managers say the small border crossing no longer qualifies for commercial deliveries, meaning cement from Canadian-based SW Concrete can’t reach crews re-constructing the St. Mary’s diversion dam and Hall’s Coulee siphons.
Project coordinators say they spent months working with the company developing and seeking approval for a specific cement-mix. The Milk River Project says there are companies in Great Falls and Shelby that could provide cement, but they are farther away from the construction site and the project development and approval processes would have to start again.
St. Mary’s Canal provides drinking water to nearly 20,000 people along the Hi Line and irrigates about 140,000 acres of farmland.
In June 2024, the canal’s 110-year-old siphons suffered a catastrophic failure. Federal agencies and lawmakers sought emergency and permanent funding to fix the canal.
Project managers are calling on the Montana delegation to find a solution for the stalled cement, before time runs out in Montana’s construction season.
