Governor Has Ignored Calls for Cold Water Fisheries Task Force Recent reporting from the Montana Standard exposed an emergency situation on the Big Hole, Beaverhead, Ruby, and Jefferson rivers. Wild trout populations in these rivers have plummeted to 50-year+ historic…
State of Montana Can Officially Begin the TMDL Clean-Up Process Recent reporting by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle covered the EPA’s approval of an “impairment” determination for the Middle Segment Gallatin River. This segment stretches from Yellowstone National Park downstream to…
Sandhill Subdivision Lacked Sufficient Studies of Impacts to Local Water On Tuesday, May 9th, the Gallatin County Commission denied the preliminary plat application for the Sandhill Major Subdivision, a proposed 34-lot subdivision south of Kagy Blvd in Bozeman reliant on…
Gallatin County Commission Should Deny Application On Tuesday, April 25th, the Gallatin County Planning Board rubber-stamped a preliminary plat application for the Sandhill Major Subdivision, a new 34-lot subdivision south of Bozeman city limits reliant on exempt wells and septic…
Nutrient pollution levels too high to support aquatic life, recreation Today, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) formally declared the middle segment of the Gallatin River ‘impaired’ by algal blooms under Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA)….
Agency Violates Law and Ignores Gallatin River Algal Blooms Upper Missouri Waterkeeper filed a complaint against the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for authorizing new wastewater discharges from the Quarry Project, a new major subdivision in Big Sky, without…
Bills Create More Problems Than Solutions; Ignore Water Quantity and Quality Issues Plaguing State’s Water Resources Recent reporting by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle highlights several concerning water bills that have made it through 2023 Montana Legislative Session transmittal, yet fail…
As of March 2023 there are three unique legal actions underway, each of which may affect the scope of headwaters protection for waterways across the United States, and especially for arid intermountain states like Montana whose stream miles include >…
EPA’s New WOTUS Rule Faces Congressional Challenges Recent reporting by the Public News Service calls attention to Republicans’ efforts to challenge the Biden Administration’s new “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule that clarifies protections for Montana’s waterways under the…
Montana DEQ’s Draft Environmental Assessment on the Quarry Planned Unit Development contains a multitude of issues: Project Segmentation into Phases Avoids Traditional Regulatory Scrutiny: Using Dozens of Septic Systems to Avoid Pollution Control Permitting: Ignores Cumulative Impacts in Violation of…
