Water is flowing again through the Milk River Project in northern Montana.
On Tuesday 25 cfs of water released from Lake Sherburne in northwestern Glacier County near the eastern edge of Glacier National Park and into the St. Mary Canal.
The system had been shut down since mid June, 2024, with the failure of the St Mary Siphon and the rebuilding of the Hall’s Coulee Siphon that feed the canal.
The St Mary is the primary water supply for northern Montana’s Milk River, which provides irrigation to 110-thousand acres of cropland and potable water to several communities, tribes and a wildlife refuge.
The Milk River Project’s Tuesday’ Facebook post was celebrating the work of contractors, engineers, a tribal workforce and regulatory offices and many subcontractors who helped completely rebuild the St Mary and Hall’s Coulee Siphons in just 504 “on the job” days.
Officials with the Milk River Project say there is still work to be done including site reclamation, design adjustments and finishing touches, but water is flowing again.
