Protection from terrorism affects far reaches of Montana

the Great Plains Region was allocated $5.19 million to spend on guards for dams. Naturally more money went to major facilities like 726-foot-tall Hoover Dam on the Colorado River rather than Tiber, where three Liberty County family farms line the river bank. For the next fiscal year, the bureau expects that budget will drop to $1.69 million.

Feist said the cost of security is less now. Procedures are in place and security cameras and other equipment have already been purchased.

More is expected when the terror alert level is red or orange than when it’s yellow as it is now. “When you start looking at the value of this infrastructure there’s a definite commitment to protect that,” Feist said. “The number one priority is to protect the safety and welfare of humans. Getting water into the fields when farmers need it, those are vital concerns as well.”

In the 2006 federal appropriations bill, Congress decided that the security checks were routine and therefore should fall under the expected costs of maintaining a dam. “This was not a surprise to us,” Feist said. “We could see that this was going to become a standard part of operating a dam. It’s no longer enhanced security; it is security.”

To give irrigators time to adjust, Congress phased out reimbursements for the security checks over the last two years. Brandon said each year the Bureau of Reclamation warned the irrigators that they would have to pay, but ended up covering the costs. But now its budget doesn’t have any wiggle room and, come fall, the irrigators must foot the bill. She is hoping that either the threat level will be lowered or that the bureau will decide that the daily security checks aren’t necessary. “Whether that happens is still a possibility,” she said. “With us being on the border, it’s going to be tough for us to get off that list.”

Blatter contacted the Department of Homeland Security, asking that as more than 200 border patrol agents are added on the Hi-Line that security checks at the dams could become part of their patrols. But the agency said that isn’t their responsibility.

Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Montana Democrats, announced this week that Montana will receive $650,000 in Homeland Security money to help secure critical infrastructure. Tester’s spokesman Aaron Murphy said it’s up to the state to decide how to spend that money, whether that is on chemical facilities, financial institutions, power plants, dams or even football stadiums. The one-time money could stave off the payments for a year, but Blatter is hoping another long-term solution emerges. “We’d like some help here,” Blatter said. “It’s just another burden on our backs.”