Senate passes water compact settlement that includes funds for Montana project [Video]

With late-season irrigation now under threat along the Hi-Line after the failure of the St. Mary Canal earlier this week, the U.S. Senate voted Thursday to pass a long-awaited water compact settlement with the Fort Belknap Indian Community that includes $275 million to rehabilitate the canal as part of the Milk River Project.

The Senate voted by unanimous consent to pass the Fort Belknap Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act, a $1.3 billion infrastructure and economic development package that has been under negotiation for years.

It is the final Indian water rights settlement in Montana, according to U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines. But it will still need to pass the House and be signed into law in order to take effect, reports the Daily Montanan.

The Milk River Project irrigates about 121,000 acres of land along 165 miles of the river from Havre to near Nashua and provides drinking water to about 18,000 people, according tothe U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The failure of the siphoning pipes at the St. …