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9 teachers attended this 2 day tour workshop on the Milk River, "Lifeline
of the Hi-Line."
Paul Azavedo of the Department of Natural Resource Conservation showed
us pictures and a slide show about the St. Mary's canal (It was a bit
too far for us to visit on this tour!) We learned that the St. Mary's
river starts in the mountains and is fed by snowpack. The Milk river starts
in the foothills and historically would have a less severe and earlier
spring flood due to melting than a mountain river. However the St. Mary's
canal delivers water to the Milk from another watershed and changes the
story of the Milk. According to the Milk River Guidebook, during dry years,
imported St. Mary's water an account for as much as 95% of Milk River
flows. More
information on the St. Mary's canal.
| Next, we visited the Havre water treatment plant where Bob Presnell
showed us around and we learned about water treatment and the quality
of the Milk River in the Havre area. |
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| Later that day, at Fresno Reservoir, Jessie Johnson
told us about the water delivery, who owns the water in Fresno and
recreation opportunities at the reservoir. See more
on the history of the Milk River project from the BOR. The natural
flow of the Milk River belongs to the Ft. Belknap tribe and flows
through the reservoir to the reservation. The diversion, or "project"
water from the St. Mary's river is managed by the Joint Board of Control,
a group of 8 irrigation districts providing water to approximately
110,000 acres of land. Additionally the municipalities of Havre, Chinook
and Harlem along with the Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge have use
of the water stored in the Milk river works. |
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We next visited the Loman diversion for the Ft. Belknap irrigation
district where ditch rider, Dennis Kleinjan described how to set the
diversion in the springtime. Diversions pull the water out of the
river, usually by gravity, into a canal. Dennis described different
types of irrigation methods and how the water is delivered to irrigators
in his district. |
Loman diversion in the Milk River |
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In order to know how much water to deliver to project participants,
and how much water is flowing in the river at all, it must be measured.
Clayton Jordan and Clinton showed us how the BOR (Bureau of Reclamation)
uses real-time graphing and a flow meter to measure water flow at
the Harlem pump site. The Harlem pump site is the diversion for the
Harlem irrigation district. Mike Daily of the DNRC Glasgow Water Resources
Regional Office also met us out in the field to talk about water flows.
 Clinton
demonstrates the new pontoon sonar boat for validating flow and
discharge
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Clayton gets the pontoon information on his laptop
instantaneously
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Back at MSU-Northern we practiced many activities for the classroom
about what we learned. Here are just a few...
 Many
people and things need water in a watershed and there is only one
source so we have to work together. The Joint Board of Control helps
the irrigation districts work together along with towns, wildlife
and other water users. |
Clayton
and Clinton showed us how to measure water in cubic feet. Just how
much water is a cubic foot? |
How much does a cubic foot of water weigh? |
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What
2004 participants had to say...
"Great amount of information at the diversion site. I could have stayed
even longer!"
"Excellent balance of hands-on to listening and reading."
"[The tour gave] information that was informative to me personally.
I had very little knowledge of water rights before."
"A great deal of information in a short time! Very outstanding
class."
"Informative, interesting and relevant to the area. Helpful that
it was 2 days and gave university credit."
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