DNRC HomeFort Peck-Dry Prairie Regional Water System
The Fort Peck-Dry Prairie Regional Water System, planned for the NE portion of the state, is a project of considerable scale, designed to bring high quality drinking water to residents of the region, with an authorized price tag of $193 million (1998 dollars). The on-Reservation portion costs will be paid totally by the Federal government, and the off-Reservation portion will be 76% Federal grant, 12% State match, 12% local match.
Legislation for project authorization was passed by the U.S. Congress on October 13, 2000, and signed into law by President Clinton as Public Law 106-382 in November, 2000. The final engineering report (FER) was submitted to and released by Congress in 2003; a programmatic environmental assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) were issued by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) in 2002. Reclamation is the lead Federal agency for the project. The system achieved a significant milestone in 2006, when it was included in the President’s budget for FY 2007.
Project sponsors must make annual appropriations requests to Congress, and of the amount approved, the Fort Peck Tribes will receive almost 72%, and Dry Prairie Rural Water slightly over 28%. Total actual dollars received thus far have been:
- Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2001, $435,000
- FY 02, $3.6 million;
- FY 03, $4.8 million;
- FY 04, $6.7 million;
- FY 05, $6 million;
- FY 06, $15.8 million; and,
- FY 07, $5 million (under a Continuing Resolution).
Funds received for 2001 were used to complete environmental studies to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), complete the draft Final Engineering Report (FER), and cover system administrative costs by both the Fort Peck Tribes and Dry Prairie Rural Water Authority (DPRWA). FY02 funds were used for design/oversight of the Missouri River water intake facility and the water treatment plant (WTP), purchase of property on which to locate the WTP between Wolf Point and Poplar, securing easements, and administrative costs.
Engineering services for the entire project were procured by both the Tribes and DPRWA, and Reclamation first released funds for construction purposes in 2003.
The Fort Peck Tribes held formal groundbreaking ceremonies for the on-Reservation portions of the system in September 2003. In 2004, the Tribes’ contractor constructed the regional system raw water intake facility on the Missouri River, southeast of Wolf Point. In the autumn of 2004, a contract for preliminary site work and sludge pond construction for the WTP was awarded; that work was substantially complete by autumn of 2005. The water treatment plant (WTP) for the regional system was advertised for bids twice, and each time there was one bidder, with the bids significantly over the engineers’ estimate, resulting in rejection of those bids by the Tribes and Reclamation. On the third attempt, it was decided to divide the WTP construction into smaller, more manageable schedules. As a result, the contract for construction of the clear wells and the washwater recovery basin was awarded early in 2007 with these portions of the WTP currently (December, 2007) under construction, and scheduled for completion by October, 2008. Construction of the water treatment plant structure and remaining facilities will be advertised for bids at a later date.
In October, 2003, construction began on the first leg of the Dry Prairie Rural Water System. In the fall of 2004, Dry Prairie finished this first phase of pipeline construction from the Culbertson WTP north to Medicine Lake, using treated Missouri River water from Culbertson on an interim basis to supply the communities of Froid and Medicine Lake, as well as a limited number of rural users. In 2006, Dry Prairie constructed 190 miles of pipeline, known as the “A” Branch Lines project, which resulted in connection of more than 190 additional rural users, as well as the community of Bainville. These additional connections, along with two new 500,000 gallon storage reservoirs, will be the extent of work that can be done in the southeastern region of the project area until the WTP plant and supply lines from the Tribes’ system have been completed, or unless the Town of Culbertson’s WTP is upgraded/updated. The Authority is planning to shift its construction efforts to the southwestern portions of planned service area in 2008, utilizing and augmenting existing water treatment and delivery infrastructure to bring regional water to the towns of Nashua, St. Marie, and more rural users.
Early estimates were that the project would take 10-15 years to complete, dependent upon steadily increasing Federal appropriations, which would peak at about $30 million per year. Based on current levels of Congressional appropriations, and rising cost indexing on materials for both the water treatment plant and water supply pipelines, current estimates by engineers and Reclamation indicate that the project would need to be funded at a level of $20 million per year for the next 22 years in order to be fully built out by 2030 AD. In comparison, a sum in excess of $50 million per year would be needed to finish the project by 2013, the originally scheduled year of completion.
Dry Prairie Rural Water Authority
Dry Prairie Rural Water Website
Chairperson: Marvin Tarum
Vice-Chairman: Charlie Cahill
Secretary-Treasurer: Allen Bunk
DPRW Board Members are: Marvin Tarum (Valley), Gordy Kampen (Sheridan), Charlie Cahill (Daniels), Allen Bunk(Valley), Wagner Harmon (Roosevelt), Rick Knick (Roosevelt), Jon Bolstad (Sheridan), and Jim Tande (Daniels).
Dry Prairie Staff
Clint Jacobs, Manager
Joni Sherman, Office Manager
Steve Baldwin, Operations & Construction Foreman
Zane Soloman, Field Rep/Construction Inspector/Water Operator
Doug Portra, Water Operator
Contact information
P.O. Box 577
Culbertson, MT 59218
(406)787-5382
FAX: (406)787-5392
