Unscientific, Politicized Repeal Efforts Put Montana’s Water at Risk

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…

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…

Summer 2020 Neon-Green Algal Bloom on the Gallatin River

Once again Montana’s World-Famous Gallatin River is Experiencing a Miles-Long, Green Algal Bloom.  This “New Normal” is not, in fact, Normal. The Gallatin River is a jewel of our state and the treasured community backyard of Big Sky and Bozeman….

Big Trout Numbers Down in Upper Madison

The number of large brown and rainbow trout in the upper Madison River has declined below 20-year averages, and fisheries biologists are unsure why. “It’s been good to excellent recruitment for quite a while, but the adults aren’t there,” said…