HAVRE — Video taken this week shows the Milk River completely dry north of the Fresno Reservoir near Havre.
A video shared on Facebook by The Milk River Project from Kody Peterson shows a dramatic sight by Cottonwood Bridge, with no water seen running in the riverbed.
“The condition of the river upstream of Fresno Reservoir, all the way up to Babb, MT, highlights just how crucial the St. Mary Diversion is to the entire Milk River system,” wrote The Milk River Project in a social media post.
On June 17, 2024, both St. Mary River siphons experienced structural failures outside of Babb.
The St. Mary Canal diverts water from the St. Mary River to the North Fork of the Milk River in Montana.
It is a critical infrastructure component for water management in the region, serving 120,000 acres of irrigated land and approximately 18,000 municipal users.
