LYIP Hosts Annual Meeting Feb. 23

The Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project held its annual meeting Friday, Feb. 23 at the Sidney Moose Lodge guided by the irrepressible Richard Cayko, Board of Control and District 2 president. A delicious dinner was served by the Women of the Moose, with efficient table clean-up by members of the Fairview FFA. Fairview FFA members have been helping at the meeting for several years but this time capped off their projects during National FFA Week.

There were no elections of board members since the incumbents were reelected with no opposition.

Jamie Selting, NRCS, gave an update on the new Montana Focus Project and what assistance might be available to help irrigators with new pivots. He encouraged anyone interested to come in and visit and potentially put some funding together. He also said that North Dakota has funding for those farmers in that district.

Project manager James Brower started his address with discussion of the lack of snow pack saying it is about 65% of average. However, he stated that the water rights of the irrigation project are firm. He did ask irrigators to plan ahead and communicate with their ditch riders so that water is available for everyone as they need it. He also said that there are some water acres available on the Montana side of the project. Interested parties can contact the office.

During the slide presentation, Brower showed photos of failing culverts which have caused sink holes and asked anyone who notices deterioration along roadways and driveways to please notify the office immediately. He explained the maintenance projects which have been completed in the past year and outlined upcoming maintenance with high praise for the hard working crew who accomplish those tasks.

Brower also addressed the on-going issue of funding for maintenance of the fish bypass and stressed the importance of staying in contact with the congressional delegations from both Montana and North Dakota.