U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today applauded a U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to allow construction of a new Intake Diversion Dam. Construction of the dam was previously halted by a lower court’s ruling against the Yellowstone Irrigation Project.
“This is a win for the four hundred farms that depend on the Yellowstone Irrigation Project to irrigate their over 50,000 acres of cropland,” said Daines. “The actions of environmental extremists should not be put before our farmers and the countless families they feed.”
Background:
On July 20, 2017, Daines secured language in the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations passed the bipartisan FY2018 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act encouraging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation to reaffirm their support for resolving issues impacting local agriculture producers and fisheries.
On July 11, 2017, Daines sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation urging those agencies to continue to support the project and not reallocate funding currently provided for the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project.
In October of 2016, Daines toured Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project’s Intake Diversion Dam and received an update on the proposed fish bypass.
On April 14, 2016, Daines secured $18 million for construction and over $2.8 million for maintenance for the Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Recovery program, including projects like the Pallid Sturgeon recovery fish passage project on the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project in the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill
On March 25, 2015, following a request from Senator Steve Daines, the Army Corps of Engineers announced their plans to extend the permit for the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project.
On September 21, 2015, Daines led the Montana and North Dakota congressional delegations in urging the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) and Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to prioritize concerns at the Yellowstone Intake Diversion Dam.
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