BILLINGS, Mont. -- Representatives from the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the EPA, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Department of Natural Resources among others held a ribbon cutting ceremony today at 1:00 MST marking completion of the intake structure for the Lower Yellowstone Project.

The new intake is part of modifications to the Lower Yellowstone Project constructed by Reclamation more than 100 years ago to irrigate approximately 54,000 acres. Water from the Yellowstone River is now diverted without the loss of fish into the canal. The project provides irrigation for crops such as sugar beets and corn in some of the highest producing farmland in the state.

The event, which was open to the public, was held at the project site, located approximately 15 miles northeast of Glendive, Mont.

The ribbon cutting marked completion of a new intake for the main irrigation canal and installation of fish screens. Ames Construction Inc. from Aurora, Colo., was awarded the project July 13, 2010 and broke ground August 13, 2010. Constructed was completed under the 2007 Water Resources Development Act, which authorizes the Corps to use funding from the Missouri River Recovery and Mitigation program to assist Reclamation.

Photos and video of the new intake and the ribbon cutting will be available for media use at http://www.usbr.gov/gp/press_media/ly_ribbon_cut_files.html as soon as possible after the event.