Ames Construction Receives Notice To Proceed With Fish Bypass Project

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Notice to Proceed to Ames Construction last week to allow work on the concrete weir and fish bypass at Intake. The long delay has been due to the bid complaint filed by American Southwest Electrical, which has now been denied by the courts. Ames can begin to resubmit applications for permits, which had expired due to the delay, and mobilize its efforts towards completing the project. Actual river work will probably not start until mid-July since they are not allowed in the river during the spawning season, but site prep should begin once the permits are finalized.

Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project manager James Brower stated, “We are glad that these Unnecessary court delays to the saving of the Endangered Pallid Sturgeon are finally over and the Construction of the Fish Bypass can start before the Wild Pallid Sturgeon becomes too old to reproduce sufficiently to repopulate the wild population.”