"A lot of people on the Blackfeet Reservation around Browning and East Glacier Park are hoping the third time is the charm.

Residents have been told in the past week or so that a major water project to bring cool, clear water to the communities for the first time in decades — if ever — could be completed within the year.

Of course, they were told that back in 2003, and again in 2007. Each time, for different reasons, funding for the multimillion-dollar project fell short of the costs, and the job didn't get done.

As a result, white clothing in the laundry comes out yellow, drinking water looks and tastes brackish, and Lloyd Reevis says he's "a little leery of taking a shower with this water."

"Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink," said the Blackfeet business council's executive secretary, T.J. Show, paraphrasing Samuel Taylor Coleridge's epic Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Hope springs eternal for a new Blackfeet water system (The Great Falls Tribune 6/19)

Earlier Story:
Long wait for clean tap water drags on in Browning, East Glacier Park (The Great Falls Tribune 6/14)