Job Announcement: Staff Attorney Application Deadline: Rolling until filled. Priority given to applications received by June 15, 2022. Job Description: Upper Missouri Waterkeeper is hiring a Staff Attorney available to start Summer 2022. The Staff Attorney is responsible for working…
Guy Alsentzer

State of Montana Moves Forward Implementing Senate Bill 358 in Violation of Federal Law
Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality Fails to Protect Helena’s Waterways While Proposing Unlawful City Wastewater Discharge Permit The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) continues to act in bad faith, implementing narrative nutrient pollution control standards in pollution permits after…

Conservation Organizations Challenge Unlawful Big Sky Pollution Permit
Upper Missouri Waterkeeper and Montana Environmental Information Center File Suit Against DEQ’s Issuance of Septic Pollution Permit in Big Sky FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, July 19, 2021 CONTACT: Quincey Johnson, Upper Missouri Waterkeeper (406) 624-9261 BOZEMAN, MT – Upper Missouri Waterkeeper and…

Opposing A New Pollution Permit to the Upper Gallatin
DEQ recently proposed a new pollution permit that would allow up to 20,000 gpd of poorly treated wastewater from new development in Big Sky’s Canyon Area, despite the fact that local groundwater and the Gallatin River are experiencing nutrient degradation…

Halfway Report – Montana 2021 Legislative Session
The last week before the Montana Legislature’s midway recess was crazier than a bull in a china shop. Not only did an unprecedented number of dirty water bills come back from the dead, but so too did meetings and last-minute…

Legislative Session Update
Montana’s biannual Legislative Session is fully underway and we’re seeing an unprecedented volume of bills, many of which aim to undermine important environmental and public health protections. Upper Missouri Waterkeeper is a non-partisan 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that does not lobby….

Federal Court Reverses Rollback of MT Nutrient Pollution Standard
On October 30, 2020 the Federal District Court of Montana Issued An Order In Our (Second) Nutrient Pollution Exemption Lawsuit Holding EPA & MT Accountable to Improve Wastewater Pollution Controls For Most of MT’s Largest Polluters In response to our…

Update: “Waters of the United States” Rule in Montana
For the past 5 years Upper Missouri Waterkeeper has defended the scope of legal protections for headwater streams in Montana, arguing science – not politics – is the lawful baseline. The federal Clean Water Act is a crucial piece of…

Looking Ahead: River Protection in Montana 2021 & Beyond
The Upcoming Biden Presidency Offers An Opportunity to Increase Protections for Montana’s Rivers and the Businesses & Communities They Support, But, There Is No Guarantee At the same time, Montana just elected an unprecedented number of state public officials –…

Trump Administration relaxes rules for oil and gas drilling in National Forests
The Trump administration has released its plan to make it easier for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. Forest Service lands. Public comments concerning the proposed rule are being accepted through November 2, 2020. The proposed rule would cut the…