Upper Missouri Waterkeeper and the Big Hole River Foundation filed a petition with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requesting a Category 5 impaired waterway designation of the Big Hole River under Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Wondering what this means for the future of the Big Hole River? Here are some answers to frequently asked questions and an opportunity for you to speak up in support of a science-based river clean-up plan.
What’s happening in the Big Hole River?
For the past five years, the Big Hole River Foundation has undertaken a robust water quality monitoring program to gather data on water quality in the mainstem river and its primary tributaries to inform better management practices, guide restoration efforts, and give us a general understanding of what’s happening beneath the surface.
Data collected has revealed clear exceedances of nitrogen and phosphorus water quality standards, and neon-green algal blooms have popped up on several sections of the Big Hole River over the past few summers. Both of these are indications of the need for pollution control planning to reduce nutrient discharges and restore water quality, hence the petition for a Big Hole River impairment designation.
Why should we care about nutrient pollution and algal blooms in the Big Hole River?
Widespread, prolonged algal blooms indicate an imbalance exists within a freshwater river system. In Montana, the science is well-established that our headwater freestone streams, like the Big Hole, do not, in their natural condition, experience severe nuisance algal blooms. Rather, decades of scientific research indicates that widespread algal blooms are nearly always linked to nutrient loading and other contributing elemental factors.
Recurrent nuisance algal blooms in the Big Hole mean that the river is reaching a tipping point where it cannot assimilate all the different types of pollution entering its system. Algal blooms degrade local water quality by lowering dissolved oxygen, altering pH, reducing quality conditions for macroinvertebrate communities, and elevating water temperatures – all of which threaten sensitive trout and aquatic life. Severe algal blooms also degrade recreational opportunities, as it’s much harder and less pleasant to fish, swim, or boat in neon-green aquatic vegetation. Montanans have legally protected rights to clean rivers and healthy fisheries, but rights are only worthwhile if they are enforced.
What causes algal blooms?
Algae are a natural part of all aquatic ecosystems, but prolific growth can cause a dense mass of algae, called a bloom, to form. While blooms are waterbody specific, the most common causal factors for algal bloom formations are nutrients, temperature, light, and consistent conditions.
Nutrients, in particular nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential to algae production. The availability of these nutrients encourage the growth of algae in freshwater systems like the Big Hole. Increased nutrient loading above natural levels often leads to increased algae production, and increased risk of a bloom. This process of nutrient enrichment is called eutrophication, which can be further stimulated by man-made influences such as shoreline development, certain agricultural practices, wastewater and industrial effluent, or urban and stormwater runoff.
Does the state have legal authority to address severe algal blooms in the Big Hole River?
Yes.
Montana DEQ is the delegated agency with authority to implement water quality protection and pollution control mandates of the federal Clean Water Act. DEQ also implements the Montana Water Quality Act, a state law designed to protect Montana citizens’ constitutional rights to a “clean and healthful environment.”
Both of these laws require DEQ to (a) identify rivers that are failing to remain clean, (b) formally determine the severity of the decline of impaired waterways, and (c) if a waterway is failing to attain its protected legal uses (such as aquatic life or recreational uses), the agency must formally designate the waterway as ‘impaired’ at law and create and implement a mandatory pollution clean-up plan.
Why was a legal petition filed requesting designation of the Big Hole River as impaired?
Per Montana Code Annotated 75-5-702, the state is required to “monitor state waters and assess the quality of those waters to identify surface water bodies or segments of surface water bodies that are threatened or impaired. The department shall use the monitoring results to revise the list of water bodies that are identified as threatened or impaired and to establish a priority ranking for TMDL development for those waters.”
When preparing the list of threatened or impaired waterbodies, the state is required to use all currently available data, including data from private entities or individuals with an interest in water quality protection. “A person may request that the department add or remove a water body or reprioritize a water body on a draft or published list by providing the data or information necessary to support the request.” 75-5-702 (3).
In summary, filing a legal petition is the proper means to request the department add the Big Hole River to the list of impaired waterways and allocate the necessary resources to restore the river to health.
Is the data from the Big Hole River Foundation considered credible science?
Yes – The Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP) that the Big Hole River Foundation followed for the data collection process and procedure was approved by DEQ in 2020, so there is no reason to doubt the credibility of the data.
If the Dept. of Environmental Quality preliminarily approves an impairment listing for the Big Hole, what’s next?
Under state and federal law, DEQ must respond to a legal impairment petition within 60 days of submission. If DEQ agrees with the petitioners and notes that nutrient exceedances in the Big Hole River have degraded the river’s ability to attain the designated uses and are cause for impairment, it will issue a preliminary impairment determination.
Following a preliminary impairment determination, DEQ will formally publish a notice opening a 60-day public comment period on its intent to list the Big Hole River as an impaired waterway on Montana’s 303d List of Impaired Waters.
After the close of the public comment period, DEQ will review comments received and make a final decision. If DEQ finds that the preliminary determination should be finalized, it will formally submit a request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval. Once EPA approves the impairment decision, the Big Hole River would be officially designated as an impaired waterway at law, prompting the state to develop a TMDL to address the contributing pollution.
What’s a TMDL?
A “Total Maximum Daily Load” (TMDL) is a Clean Water Act planning tool used to reduce pollutants entering a water body.
In order to develop a TMDL, DEQ performs a science-based investigation to determine the key pollutants causing or contributing to pollution in a waterbody. The sources and relative contributions of those pollutants are then evaluated in order to set “pollution caps,” the maximum amount of a particular pollutant that the waterbody can receive while still meeting water quality standards. Pollution caps are enforceable in permit decisions for man-made sources, and for other sources, a variety of tailored best-management strategies are implemented for pollution reduction. A TMDL is essentially a mathematical equation that sets limits on pollutants entering a waterbody to ensure excessive pollutant loading is not occurring.
TMDLs remain in place indefinitely, and the efficacy of the TMDL is measured annually through monitoring.
Why are TMDLs critical tools for protecting the Big Hole River from nutrient pollution?
TMDLs are a proven, science-based process for identifying harmful river trends and developing transparent river restoration processes that are enforceable at law. TMDLs offer a non-partisan guarantee that once river degradation is recognized, mandatory pollution control duties kick in to ensure a science-based process for restoring river health begins.
An impairment designation also brings forth additional resources, funding, and focus to the area and charts a collaborative path forward to clean up the pollution for the benefit of the resource, community, local businesses, agriculture, and recreationists that depend upon a clean and healthy Big Hole River.
How will a Big Hole River impairment determination affect economic development?
An impairment determination for the Big Hole River is a benefit to everyone that cares about the river, the local economy, or clear business expectations.
A Big Hole River impairment determination provides clear expectation of what needs to be done to protect the river. This will provide businesses with regulatory certainty necessary to planning, will protect existing important river-based business interests in restoring and using cool, clean flows, and will provide transparency and an enforceable guarantee to the public that an accountability framework for restoring the health of the Big Hole is underway.
How does a TMDL affect agriculture?
Agricultural activities can be a significant source of pollution to waterways, often contributing nutrients from fertilizers and manure into nearby surface waters. The TMDL development process includes limiting pollutants of concern from all contributing sources. This may require agricultural sectors to implement conservation measures such as using fertilizers more efficiently, timing applications appropriately, keeping livestock away from waterbodies, and implementing proper manure management practices to reduce nutrient runoff.
What can I do to help?