[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              POTABLE DRINKING WATER FOR PARTS OF MONTANA

                                 ______


                           HON. PAT WILLIAMS

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 20, 1995

  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, today there are folks who are forced 
several times each week to travel miles to fill tanks and barrels with 
pure water to drink. The situation I refer to is not somewhere in a 
Third World country, but--remarkably--in Valley County, Montana. 
Because groundwater supplies in this part of Montana are not potable, 
the residents of these communities drive in their trucks for hours each 
week, both summer and winter, to deliver this water to hundreds of 
people.
  The irony of this situation is that these folks live adjacent to one 
of the largest bodies of water ever developed by the Federal Government 
in the West, the Fort Peck Reservoir, which stores over 18 million acre 
feet. The bill I am introducing today will authorize the development of 
a rural municipal water system for the residents of the Fort Peck Rural 
Water District. This much needed project will tap into Fort Peck 
Reservoir to construct a safe and reliable drinking system for both 
municipal and agricultural purposes. When this project is completed, it 
will also enable this area of Montana to attract economic development, 
which up to now has been stifled due to the unavailability of water.
  Mr. Speaker, the Bureau of Reclamation has completed a needs 
assessment and feasibility study on this project, and I am proposing 
its construction through a partnership arrangement where State and 
local interests will contribute 20 percent of the cost toward its 
completion. The feasibility study estimates that the total Federal 
expenditure will be less than $6 million. If we can afford to spend 
much more than this to help undeveloped nations all around the world to 
develop safe supplies of drinking water, we can certainly afford to do 
this for folks living in Montana.

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