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Buffalo Rapids Project
State: Montana
Region: Great Plains
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Buffalo Rapids Project Project History (33KB)
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General
The Buffalo Rapids Project, in southeastern Montana, is divided into the First and Second Divisions. Principal structures include five pumping plants that pump water directly from the Yellowstone River and one relift pumping plant to provide irrigation water for 22,719 acres of land in the vicinity of Glendive, Fallon, and Terry, Montana.
History
Settlers along the Yellowstone River between Miles City and Glendive first attempted irrigation of two tracts of land, one by diversion and the other by pumping. The diversion scheme failed because a suitable diversion dam was not provided. The pumping unit, driven by a fuel-operated powerplants, proved to be too costly. The great part of the area, therefore, reverted to dry farming, which encountered serious difficulties during the extended drought of the 1930`s.
Construction
Construction of the Glendive Unit, First Division, was initiated in 1937 by the Bureau of Reclamation. The Main Canal and portions of the laterals of this unit were completed in the spring of 1941. In 1942 and 1943, the Farm Security Administration completed the irrigation laterals and necessary concrete structures on the First Division. A third pumping unit at the Glendive Pumping Plant was installed by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1944 to increase the capacity of the pumping plant and furnish irrigation water for an additional 6,000 acres. Glendive Pumping Plant No. 2 for the First Division was completed in 1978. The plant was financed under the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956. The pumping plant supplies supplemental irrigation water to the Main Canal to meet peak demand situations. The Second Division comprises the Shirley, Terry, and Fallon Units along the east bank of the Yellowstone River. Construction of the Second Division began in September 1940 and proceeded, with some delays, throughout World War II, although work on the Fallon Unit did not begin until August 1945. Construction of the Second Division was essentially completed in 1948. Project soil is fertile and produces a large variety of crops when irrigated. Principal crops produced are alfalfa, sugar beets, beans, flax, potatoes, and wheat. The Buffalo Rapids project is a small two division pumping plant located on the Lower Yellowstone River. Despite its small size the Buffalo Rapids Project provides a much needed service to the surrounding irrigation lands. The Buffalo Rapids Project does not contain a dam or a reservoir. Located in southeastern Montana, the Buffalo Rapids Project is divided into two separate units, the First and Second Divisions. The Project lies along the Yellowstone River between Miles City and the upper end of the Lower Yellowstone Project in Custer, Dawson, and Prairie Counties, Montana. Principal features of the Project include six pumping plants, sixty-three miles of canals and eighty-three miles of laterals; five of the pumping plants pump water directly from the Yellowstone River and one relift pumping plant provides irrigation water for 22,719 acres of land in the vicinity of Glendive, Fallon, and Terry, Montana. All pumps on the Unit are operated electrically with power supplied by the Fort Peck Project; the Fort Peck power system has been integrated with the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program to serve a common market area. Water is pumped directly out of the Yellowstone River so storage is not required.(1) More specifically, the First Division is comprised of an intake channel of 1,000 feet, a three unit pumping plant with a capacity of 330 cfs and 103-foot lift, over thirty-three miles of canal, and more then fifty-six miles of laterals. While the Second Division Shirley Unit has a pumping plant with a capacity of 111 cfs and fifty-one foot lift, just over thirteen miles of canal, and over fifteen miles of laterals. Second Division Terry Unit has a pumping plant with a capacity of sixty-one and a half cfs and 109-foot lift, seven and a half miles of canal, and over fifteen miles of laterals. Second Division Fallon Unit has a pumping plant with a capacity of seventy-two cfs and forty-nine-foot lift, nearly seven miles of canal, and eight miles of laterals.(2) Montana has long been a land of wide open spaces and staunch individuals. More then any other state, Montana is Lewis and Clark country; Montana exemplifies the exploration of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1804. Together with the Shoshone Princess Sacagawea they spent more time and covered more miles there then in any other state. Yet, more than anything or anyone, Montana belongs to the miners.(3) The State Seal of Montana is inscribed with the motto `Oro y Plata,` (gold and silver) under a miner`s crossed pick and shovel and a plow. Almost overnight, mining attracted thousands of people, established a more enduring economic base, and brought a quickening exploitation of resources and despoliation of the environment. John Owen made the first documented discovery of gold, on a Sunday in mid-February 1852. The influx had begun and in time over $30 million in gold was taken out of the area around Helena. Eventually the rush in Montana for silver and gold turned into a rush for copper.(4) The Anaconda Copper Mining Company began in 1876 as the Anaconda Gold and Silver Mining Company. Marcus Daly bought the Anaconda mine in 1876 and with the help of California capitalists he formed the Anaconda Gold and Silver Mining Company, soon gold and silver gave way to rich copper. Daly sensing a growing demand for copper adapted accordingly. In 1889, Daly reorganized the Anaconda into the Amalgamated Copper Company, dominated by the Standard Oil Company. In 1910, the Amalgamated merged with William A. Clark's holding to become the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. The Anaconda was the epitome of corporate power in the Nation, controlling the newspapers as well as the local economy. "With thirty shafts on Butte Hill; reduction and smelting works in East Helena, Anaconda, and Great Falls; vast coal, railroad, lumber, hotel, and mercantile enterprises, not to mention newspapers and close ties with Montana Power; Anaconda for a time would be the most potent force in the state."(5) On the other side of the state and a world away from the Anaconda Mine, the Buffalo Rapids Project was unaffected by mining interests. The region in which the Buffalo Rapids Project is situated was first settled in the early 1880's. Cattlemen, mainly from New York and Iowa, enticed by a plentiful supply of pasture land developed large scale cattle ranching; individual ranches flourished, running as many as 50,000 head of cattle. In 1886, adverse weather and poor market conditions caused severe losses, forcing many ranchers out of business. The 1890's brought improved conditions and the establishment of sheep herding. By 1900 all of the large cattle ranches had disappeared, thanks largely to the advent of the sheep wagon in 1898 which greatly expanded the sheep industry. Sheep, with a few small cattle ranches thriving in some places, remained the principal industry until 1908 when dry farming gained popularity.(6) On September 17, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved the Glendive Unit to irrigate an estimated 15,500 acres with funds provided under the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1937. Three years later, on May 15, 1940, the President approved the Glendive Extension for an additional 3,000 acres under the Water Conservation and Utilization Act of May 10, 1939. Together the Glendive Unit and Extension constitute the First Division. The President approved the Shirley, Terry, and Fallon Units of the Second Division on October 11, 1939. A revised plan was approved on May 15, 1940, under the Water Conservation and Utilization Program.(7) In 1933 in an effort to combat depressed conditions in the valley, local businessmen formed the Mid-Yellowstone Recovery Association. The Association obtained funds from the National Industrial Recovery Act for the Bureau of Reclamation to conduct an investigation of the valley to determine the feasibility of using water from the Yellowstone River for irrigation purposes. The investigation was completed in 1935 with favorable results, locating approximately 56,000 acres suitable for irrigation. Authorization for construction on the Glendive Unit was based on the report of findings from this investigation.(8) Containing about 17,000 acres of irrigable land, the Glendive Unit lies on the west side of the Yellowstone River between Fallon and Glendive, Montana. Construction of the unit began November 12, 1937, with ground breaking for excavation of the main canal.(9) The following April 1938, excavation began on the lateral system.(10) Work was carried out by Government forces directed by the Bureau of Reclamation. Except for supervisory employees all labor was procured from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) rolls of the region. The Glendive Unit was the first cooperative construction project between the Bureau of Reclamation and the WPA. In order to complete the Project and keep men off of the relief rolls, work continued year round, even though construction during the winter was not usually favorable.(11) The first operation of the pumping station occurred on September 26, 1939, before the Unit was completed; diverted water was allowed to flow about ten miles down the main canal.(12) Work continued year round until completion in July 1940; water was delivered to the surrounding lands for the 1940 irrigation season. Immediately after completion of the Glendive Unit in July 1940, work began on the Glendive Extension.(13) Funds were allotted for the Glendive Extension from the Great Plains Funds of the Interior Department Appropriation Act of 1940.(14) Work continued on a year round basis and the Extension was completed in 1942.(15) Reclamation developed the Second Division at the same time as the First Division. It is comprised of the Shirley, Terry and Fallon Units. The Shirley Unit is located in Prairie and Custer Counties; the Unit runs thirteen miles in length along the southern bank of the Yellowstone River beginning eighteen miles northeast of Miles City. Also located on the southern bank of the River, the Terry and Fallon Units encircle the towns of Terry and Fallon respectively.(16) William G. Sloan--who later authored Reclamation's part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program (PSMBP)--conducted the investigation of the feasibility of the Second Unit in June 1939. WPA appropriations and labor were made available in September 1940, for construction of the Shirley and Terry Units of the Second Division.(17) Construction on the Second Division, Shirley and Terry Units, commenced in September 1940. As with the First Division, work was carried out by workers from the WPA rolls and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp enrollees, under supervision of the Bureau of Reclamation.(18) The CCC Camp was discontinued in July 1942.(19) In January 1943, WPA assistance was terminated and replaced by workers from the Civilian Public Service Camp. Even though wartime demands on time and money were stringent, work on the Units progressed fairly steadily until completion of the Shirley Unit in 1943 and the Terry Unit in 1945. Water was first delivered to the Shirley lands in the 1944 irrigation season and to the Terry lands in 1945.(20) Between 1941 and 1945, due to wartime demands on materials, the War Production Board had to approve any new construction works. Reclamation's request to begin construction on the Fallon Unit was denied so work was delayed until 1946. It was decided that work on the Unit would be carried out by contract instead of by Government force. The contract was awarded to Long Construction Company of Billings, Montana on July 12, 1946, and work began later the same year.(21) The contractor completed work on the Unit a year later on December 6, 1947.(22) The Unit was subsequently placed in operation in 1950.(23)
Plan
The First Division consists of the Glendive Unit and its extension. It serves 13,254 acres of irrigable land extending from Fallon to Glendive along the west bank of the Yellowstone River. No storage is provided as the water is pumped directly from the Yellowstone River to the Main Canal by motor-driven pumps. The Second Division serves 9,465 acres of irrigable land along the south bank of the Yellowstone River between Miles City and Fallon, Montana. Three separate tracts of irrigable land are designated as the Shirley, Terry, and Fallon Units. Water is pumped directly from the Yellowstone River for each unit. Glendive Pumping Plant Nos. 1 and 2 serve the First Division. Shirley, Terry, Fallon, and Fallon Relift Pumping Plants serve the Second Division. All the pumps are operated electrically with power supplied from the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. Each unit has a separate canal and lateral system with appurtenant water control structures to provide for distribution of water to the land. A total of 62 miles of canals and 96 miles of laterals is included in the project. The project is operated by the Buffalo Rapids Board of Control as the agent of Buffalo Rapids Irrigation District No. 1 and Buffalo Rapids Irrigation District No. 2.
Contact
Contact
Title: Public Affairs OfficerOrganization: Great Plains Region
Address: 2021 4th Avenue North
City: Billings, MT 59101
Fax: 406-247-7604
Phone: 406-247-7610
Contact
Organization: Buffalo Rapids Irrigation District No. IAddress: PO Box 907
City: Terry, MT 59349
Phone: 406-635-5586
Contact
Organization: Buffalo Rapids Irrigation District No. IIAddress: PO Box 907
City: Terry, MT 59349
Phone: 406-635-5586
Contact
Title: Area ManagerOrganization: Montana Area Office
Address: P.O. Box 30137
City: Billings, MT 59107-0137
Fax: 406-247-7338
Phone: 406-247-7300