Dry-Redwater Rural Water Project

Aerial Map of key project elements

Click the images above for larger sizes of the Dry-Redwater Rural Water Project maps

The Bureau of Reclamation is the lead federal agency for the development of an environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed Dry-Redwater Rural Water Project. The project is sponsored by the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority (DRWA). Reclamation has worked closely with DRWA since 2006 to address water supplies in northeastern Montana. The passage of the 2006 Rural Water Supply Act authorized Reclamation and DRWA to initiate a feasibility study intended to provide safe drinking water to communities within the DRWA service area. These initial planning and project design efforts continued through 2016. Passage of the Clean Water for Rural Communities Act of 2020 refocused Reclamation’s and DRWA’s efforts to move this project forward. We are requesting state, federal, and public participation as a cooperating/responsible agency in a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) process.

The proposed federal/state action would provide reliable and safe drinking water to rural residents of Garfield, McCone, Dawson, and Richland counties west of the Yellowstone River. The residents in the proposed project area primarily obtain their domestic water from private wells drilled into shallow aquifers, gravel pockets, or deep confined aquifers. Some residents haul domestic water because well water is undrinkable or low well discharges make it unusable.

Files

Contact Info

Project Manager
Ryan Colloton
(406) 247-7306
rcolloton@usbr.gov

NEPA Contact
Cody Hendrix
(406) 247-7351
chendrix@usbr.gov

Last Updated: 8/5/25