Billings Canal
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The Billings Bench Water Association Canal, also referred to as the Billings Canal and built as the Billings Land & Irrigation Canal,The canal is often referred to as "The Big Ditch." However, this name technically refers to another local ditch, the M&M Canal. is an irrigation
ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...
that starts at the
Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...
in
Laurel, Montana Laurel is a city in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States and the third largest community in the Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area. Laurel is located in the Yellowstone Valley as an east–west terminal division point of the BNSF Rai ...
. It runs through
Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...
, then flows via
tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
under the Rimrocks into the Billings Heights before ending at the Yellowstone River near
Shepherd, Montana Shepherd is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. The population was 193 at the 2000 census. Shepherd is a Billings suburb located to the northeast. The unincorporated town was named after R.E. Shepherd, a ...
. The nonprofit Billings Bench Water Association (BBWA) has operated the canal since 1915. It is largest ditch in Billings and a crucial water source for agriculture in the area between Billings and the
Huntley Project The Huntley Project is an irrigation project in southern Montana that was established by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in 1907. The district includes the towns of Huntley, Worden, Ballantine, and Pompeys Pillar. Since the Huntley Proj ...
.


History

The oldest major irrigation ditch in Billings is the M&M Canal, which Henry W. Rowley conceived prior to the platting of the townsite."M&M" is a reference to the Minnesota and Montana Land and Improvement Company, the railroad subsidiary that platted the original Billings townsite. Built in 1883, this ditch was intended to attract farmers to the area, and to draw interest from financial backers. The M&M Canal was officially renamed the Big Ditch in 1900, but it was eclipsed several years later by a wider and longer ditch—the eventual BBWA Canal—that would serve not only the west Billings area, but land to the northeast as well.


Construction

The Billings Land & Irrigation Company was incorporated in 1903 with the intent to provide water to landowners in the Billings Bench area north of downtown, and beyond to the Huntley area. In January 1904, the company filed a water right for per second flowing through the Yellowstone River. The original plans called for the canal to pass by the Rimrocks and Boothill Cemetery before heading north toward the Bench; however, irrigation specialist Marvin Chase recommended a shorter route that would cut through the Rimrocks via tunnel. The Billings Land & Irrigation Company awarded the contract for tunnel construction to R.W. Rowley, who broke ground in December 1903. The tunnel was bored from both ends simultaneously. Upon its completion about a year later, the tunnel was long, feet high at some points, and up to wide. The canal construction necessitated the construction of further infrastructure, such as bridges and a large wooden
flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...
over Alkali Creek. Because horses could not pass through marshy areas, the Company purchased a
steam shovel A steam shovel is a large steam engine, steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as Rock (geology), rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. Steam shovels played a major role in ...
to build these canal sections.


1900s

The canal was legally deemed complete in 1905. A few years late, the canal manager lost his job when Bench farmers blamed a 1908 canal break on his negligence. The Land & Irrigation Company's successor, the Billings Bench Water Association, was incorporated on September 24, 1915 by 38 landowners along the canal route. The BBWA has operated continuously since that time. The canal's route through Billings changed over the years as the city developed. A notable break north of downtown in July 1924 caused severe flooding, motivating the BBWA to move the canal closer to the Rimrocks and line that section with
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
. The canal broke in approximately the same spot in 1933, but was repaired quickly. The canal broke again on the night of June 11, 1937, after it filled with water from 48 hours of intense rainfall. Various other ditches and creeks overflowed on the same night. The ensuing flood engulfed Billings' downtown and caused several million dollars' worth of damage. In the 1970s, the Alkali
Siphon A siphon (; also spelled syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, abo ...
of the canal began to leak and was replaced in 1978. In 1986, the beams that supported the tunnel for the canal underneath the Rimrocks were replaced.


2000s

In August 2016, the canal banks breached near Alkali Creek, disrupting upstream agriculture and prompting over $1 million in repair work. In 2021, the canal slipped about a foot downhill near the entrance to the tunnel. This portion of the canal was stabilized in 2023. The same year, Montana governor
Greg Gianforte Gregory Richard Gianforte ( ; born April 17, 1961) is an American politician, businessman, and software engineer serving as the 25th governor of Montana since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Gianforte served as the U.S. representativ ...
visited the canal to promote a disaster mitigation bill. In 2024, the City of Billings broke ground on a second municipal water treatment plant, located on the West End near ZooMontana. The BBWA Canal will supply water to the plant and its two accompanying reservoirs. The water treatment plant is slated for completion in late 2026.


Deaths

Over the years, the BBWA Canal has been associated with various deaths. During the construction of the tunnel, a man was killed in a
blasting powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
accident. A 5-year-old boy drowned in the canal in Billings in 1980. In 2010, a man drowned in the canal near Shepherd. In 2020, the body of a 45-year-old man was found floating near Billings' Meadowlark School, and another man's body was discovered in the canal near Lake Elmo in 2024.This list is not comprehensive.


Description

The main line of the BBWA Canal is long, with over of branching laterals. The canal serves around 1,200 users, who serve as the shareholders of the nonprofit Billings Bench Water Association. Every year, the water flow is turned on around April 15 and runs until October 15. The water flow measures between per second. The BBWA system's water is largely used to irrigate agricultural fields totaling . It is also used for golf courses, private yards, and public parks. The
Montana State University Billings Montana State University Billings (or MSU Billings) is a public university in Billings, Montana, United States. It is the state's third largest university. Its campus is located on 110 acres in downtown Billings. Formerly Eastern Montana Normal ...
campus is at least partially watered by the canal, which runs through it. Despite some modernization efforts over the decades, most of the canal's infrastructure still dates from 1940 and earlier, including a wooden flume over Canyon Creek and the tunnel through the Rimrocks. The canal flowed almost entirely through rural areas when it was built, but Billings' growth since then means the canal now flows directly through multiple neighborhoods. Because of the damage that water breaches could cause to the city and surrounding area, the Canal Association staff perform regular monitoring and maintenance.


Reservoirs

The BBWA Canal feeds two reservoirs. The first is
Lake Elmo Lake Elmo is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 11,335 at the 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the population is 13,449. Much of the area within the city limits is still farmland, givin ...
, a public reservoir in the Billings Heights that offers swimming, boating, paddle boarding, and fishing.In older sources, Lake Elmo is called by its prior name, Holling Reservoir. Lake Elmo supplies domestic water to a 113-home community north of Billings. The second reservoir fed by the BBWA Canal is Rattlesnake Reservoir north of the Heights. In the future, the canal will feed two additional reservoirs that will supply water to the Billings West End water treatment plant.


Notes


References


Further reading

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External links


Billings Bench Water Association
{{coord, 45, 51, 20, N, 108, 27, 56, W, display=title Canals in Montana Buildings and structures in Billings, Montana 1903 establishments in Montana Infrastructure completed in 1905