“We couldn't be more pleased; we are elated,” said Clint Jacobs, manager of the Dry Prairie Rural Water Authority in Culbertson.
The bill, which could get congressional approval in the coming days, has $16 million for the Dry Prairie project and its sister project, the Fort Peck Assiniboine-Sioux Rural Water Supply System.
The $200 million projects are projected to serve 35,000 people, both on and around the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
If the House and Senate approved the measure, it will proceed to President Bush for his signature.
The bill approved by the House-Senate conference committee Monday also includes:
n $5.75 million for the Rocky Boy's/North Central Montana Regional water system, another large rural water system to serve northcentral Montana and the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation.
n $14 million for two major research projects at Montana State University: a fuel-cell development project and “zero-emissions” research on coal.
n $7 million for two energy research projects at MSE Technology Applications Inc. in Butte.
n $500,000 for the St. Mary's canal, a $100 million rehabilitation project of an irrigation project that serves farmers along Montana's Hi-Line.
“On the St. Mary's canal, we all agree there is much work to be done,” said U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. “It will be a long process to get this waterway repaired.”
U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., called the bill a “huge win for Montana.”
“Overall, it represents a serious federal investment in the everyday lives of Montanans,” he said. “The funding for water projects, in particular, is absolutely vital to many rural Montana communities.”
Escarcega said the money in the bill will pay for the first phase of a new $23.5 million water-treatment plant east of Wolf Point, as part of the Fort Peck project.
Jacobs said on the Dry Prairie Project, the money will finance construction of a 190-mile pipeline that will connect 180 rural water-users and the town of Bainville, and a storage facility for 1 million gallons of water.
The previous largest annual total for any federal appropriation for the two projects ws $7.5 million.
The feds are supposed to finance 76 percent of the off-reservation system, while the state picks up 12 percent. Water users will pay the balance.
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