Tensions surface on Brady water: Project's future threatened by transfer of shares

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This irrigation channel brings water to the town of Brady. / TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS

An ongoing dispute over the transfer of shares in a water storage and distribution
corporation threatens to stall a project to bring clean drinking water to the town of Brady.

An official with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
(DNRC) said Thursday that funding for the water project has been all but guaranteed
through the federal Bureau of Reclamation, but the DNRC is concerned continued
delays may prevent clean water from flowing to Brady before winter weather
halts this year’s construction season.

Brady now gets its water through a network of open irrigation ditches leading to a
small water treatment plant. Water for the town’s 250 people exceeds federal standards
for organic solids, pesticides and chlorine residues. The Montana Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ) has given Brady until 2014 to rectify its water quality
issues or face substantial penalties.

In 2007, Brady signed on as a member of the North Central Montana Regional Water Authority
(NCMRWA) with the ultimate goal of receiving its drinking water from a regionwide distribution
system originating at Lake Elwell. Construction of the $361 million water project has been
in progress for 11 years and is unlikely to be completed for many years to come.



http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20130712/NEWS01/307120018/Tensions-surface-Brady-water-Project-s-future-threatened-by-transfer-shares