Waterkeeper Defeats DEQ’s Motion to Dismiss in Big Sky Water Pollution Challenge

Lawsuit Will Proceed to the Merits  Yesterday, the Montana Eighteenth Judicial District Court in Gallatin County denied the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) motion to dismiss the Upper Missouri Waterkeeper v. Montana Department of Environmental Quality lawsuit challenging the authorization…

Montana DEQ Must Improve Permit Terms for Industrial Factory Farms To Protect Clean Water

Waterkeeper and National Organizations File Comments to Improve Statewide CAFO Permitting    Yesterday, Upper Missouri Waterkeeper and several national organizations submitted technical comments to the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) on the proposed renewal of the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation…

Another Blow to the Big Hole River; Widespread Neon-Green Algal Bloom Emerges

This week, Upper Missouri Waterkeeper documented and notified the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) of a miles-long neon-green noxious algal bloom emerging on the Big Hole River downstream of Divide. The new algal bloom adds to the suite of…

Speak Up: Improve Montana’s Water Quality

Increasing pollution, including the growing threat posed by nutrient pollution related to unrelenting development pressure, continues to challenge Montana’s clean water and world-class rivers. Once every three years, the Montana Department of Environmental Protection (DEQ) conducts a comprehensive review of…

Supreme Court Guts Clean Water Act Protections

The U.S. Supreme Court dramatically curtailed Clean Water Act protections with its ruling in Sackett v. EPA, favoring polluters over the health of wetlands and headwater creeks across Montana and the nation.  Let’s back up. What was the Sackett v….

Two Years After Calling for a Cold Water Fisheries Task Force, Southwest MT Trout Populations Fall to Historic Lows

You don’t have to look far to see that Southwest Montana’s world-renowned wild trout fisheries have been on the decline for the past several years. A suite of troubling conditions – low snowpack and dewatered rivers, nutrient pollution driven noxious…

State of Montana Officially Declares Gallatin River ‘Impaired’

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)….

Dirty Water Bills Progress Through the Legislature

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…

Gallatin County District Court Rules in Favor of Environmental Groups

Subdivision Water Pollution Permit Declared Unlawful After DEQ Failed to Consider Cumulative Impacts On November 16, the Montana Eighteenth Judicial District Court in Gallatin County released a ruling in favor of Upper Missouri Waterkeeper and the Montana Environmental Information Center…

Glampground on the Gallatin: New development in the floodplain is bad for the river

A Gallatin Gateway landowner is asking Gallatin County permission to build a glamorous campground (“Glampground”) retreat facility on the bank of the Gallatin River with 63 sites that will include running water, sewage, power and gas utilities, as well as…