Mountain Water Co. secured a water use permit providing the water rights for approximately 1,500 homes to be connected to the southern portion of Mountain Water's system in the Lower Miller Creek area of Montana.
To put the water right permit into use, wells have been drilled near the confluence of Miller Creek and the Bitterroot River. The wells are permitted to pump up to 2,000 gpm. In addition, two new reservoirs with more than 1.1 million gal of storage and many miles of transmission and distribution mains will be installed. Overall, the housing development will require more than $10 million in water infrastructure work. These costs will be paid for upfront by the developers and refunded back over time based on revenues provided by the additional water customers.
To make this happen, Mountain Water worked with the developers and interested parties to eliminate impacts to other water users. Working through the complexities of Montana's Water Use Act and the Department of Natural Resources' administrative rules that protect senior water users, Mountain Water developed solutions that mitigated any impacts of the new water use.
"Mountain Water recognizes the need to balance new growth and its associated water use with healthy stream flows," said Ross Miller, chief legal officer of Mountain Water. "Mountain Water is committed to lending its expertise in this area to facilitate our community's growth while sustaining our precious water resources."
Under the requirements of the water right permit, any potential reductions in stream flows of the Bitterroot River will be offset and eliminated by immediately retiring 233 acres of land from irrigation out of Miller Creek. An additional 135 acres of land will be retired from irrigation in future years to satisfy in-stream flow rights held by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
"This has been a long, grueling process from a developer's standpoint. We appreciate how so many interests were eventually able to find a solution that works so well," said long-time Missoula developer Lloyd Twite. "Mountain Water's expertise and willingness to help find solutions was a very necessary part of putting this together."
The developers, which include the Twite Family Partnership and Maloney Properties, had Mountain Water begin installing water infrastructure this summer and made building lots available for sale by late summer.
Source: Mountain Water Co.
