The Montana Department of Corrections continued supporting inmates at Montana State Prison as efforts continued Monday to address a leak that disrupted water services on Friday morning.
“We know this is a challenging situation and recognize the urgency felt by inmates and their families to resolve this as soon as possible. We share that sense of urgency,” said DOC Director Brian Gootkin. “We had a lot of positive pieces move into place today and we took a small step forward.”
Operations to find the leak were not impacted Monday by weather conditions. A second water leak detection consultant from Bozeman arrived in Deer Lodge this afternoon to assist with location efforts as the search continues. DOC maintenance staff reported that the water level in the tank has remained steady with the water transported by the Montana National Guard.
A second Montana National Guard team arrived in Deer Lodge today to continue assisting with water transfer operations from the city of Deer Lodge to the MSP main water tank. Both teams and their tankers will begin running 24-hour service to help refill the main water tank with more than 200,000 gallons of water delivered by Monday evening.
Additionally, a County Assist Team (CAT) using state assets from Disaster Emergency Services and Department of Natural Resources & Conservation came in to help support with planning, logistics, and incident follow-up.
Portable showers arrived at the facility on Monday afternoon, with two units totaling eight showers now available. The department continues to seek additional portable shower units.
Staff are working to keep normal inmate services running, and are prioritizing resources where they are being needed most critically. Probation and Parole Officers from the surrounding area have been called in to assist with security and other efforts. On Tuesday, contingency correctional officers from the Montana Women’s Prison will arrive at MSP to assist with additional security support and other efforts.
(1st REPORT, OCTOBER 12, 2025) For the past few days the Montana National Guard has been using a truck to pump water into the Montana State Prison’s main water tank after they discovered a rupture causing havoc at the prison.
“We certainly recognize the heightened kind of tension that this scenario could create, so many of our security professionals are out talking to the units to make sure they understand, you know, we’re doing everything we can to resolve this issue as fast as possible,” Montana Department of Corrections Deputy Director Eric Strauss said.
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The issue started Friday morning when the prison lost pressure to its main water supply disrupting many services.
“Everything you could imagine, you know, for food service, for sanitation, showering, flushing of toilets, all that stuff,” Strauss said.
By the third day, crews were still trying to find the location of the break along the prison buried waterline. The National Guard has been hauling in water to up the prison’s 300,000-gallon water tank to keep the system pressurized until the break can be located and repaired.
Coincidentally, the Guard just returned from this type of training in California.
“The cool thing is we’re now supporting our community instead of necessarily, that was just an exercise, now, this is real, we’re supporting the department of corrections,” National Guard Maj. Eric Nelson said.
The prison has been providing approximately 1,600 inmates with seven bottles of drinking water each per day. The inmates use portable toilets, which staff must escort them to and from.
“It’s obviously not ideal, but it’s kind of the interim solution we have until we fix the problem,” Strauss said.
About a dozen volunteers from Probation & Parole have been helping the prison staff during the water crisis.
MTN News has received many messages from relatives of inmates claiming the inmates are suffering. The Biggest complaints are lack of sanitary conditions, some inmates using bags for toilets and not beingable to shower for days.
The DOC claims inmates are adapting.
“The tenor of the inmates was good, I mean they were expressing concerns about like when are we going to be able to shower and we’re recognizing that’s a primary need for people, so we’re doing everything we can to make sure we can get them a sure as soon as possible,” Strauss said.
The DOC is confident they will locate the waterline break soon.
