From left to right: Senator Steve Daines; Blackfeet Nation Chairman Timothy Davis; Brent Esplin, director for Reclamation's Missouri Basin and Arkansas–Rio Grande–Texas Gulf regions; and Dr. Tim Petty.
Assistant Secretary Tim Petty on His Visit to the Milk River Project
34 | IRRIGATION LEADER | September 2020
visited all five of the unit’s drop structures, including drop 5, the structure that failed catastrophically on May 17, and drop 2, which is also being replaced this year. In this interview, Dr. Petty tells Irrigation Leader about Interior’s outlook on the Milk River Project and its work on other vital programs. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your trip to see the Milk River Project in Montana. irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER PATRICK.
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r. Tim Petty, the assistant secretary for water and science at the U.S. Department of the Interior, is responsible for the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and, consequently, for a wide variety of issues related to water infrastructure, water resources, energy, ecosystems, and natural disasters. Dr. Petty recently traveled to western Montana to visit the St. Mary unit of the Milk River Project. While there, he met with local and tribal staff and