Have you seen Upper Missouri Waterkeeper in the newspaper?
We’ve been hard at work spreading the clean water message – take a look below at a few public articles to which we contributed!
New Water Forum discusses health of the Gallatin River – We’re part of a stakeholder group discussing the water resource management challenges and opportunities confronting the booming resort community of Big Sky, Montana. In the past ten years Big Sky has doubled in size, yet the region is estimated at only 50% built-out in 2016. At the same time, the overall health of the West Fork Gallatin watershed has declined and several waterways have ‘pollution diets,’ AKA Total Maximum Daily Loads for chronic pollution. Waterkeeper aims to build awareness – and action – on the interconnected issues of water supply, water quality, and development, towards the twin goals of addressing existing water pollution and preventing future river degradation.
State to investigate off-color drinking water in Manhattan – In late May 2016, citizens of Manhattan, Montana contacted Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, expressing concern over the quality of their drinking water. For several days tap water ran yellow and and contained strange odors. Upper Missouri Waterkeeper contacted the Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality – which wasn’t aware of the issue – and helped make sure the state conducted immediate monitoring to ensure the safety of local drinking water.
Waterkeeper Sues EPA over Montana’s Weak Nutrient Pollution Rule – Earlier summer 2016 we took action to address the state of Montana’s weak pollution rules for nitrogen and phosphorus. Our lawsuit targets EPA’s recent approval of Montana’s Numeric Nutrient Rule Package, specifically its “nutrient variance rule,” which not only violates the federal Clean Water Act, but also undermines critical clean water protections for local waterways, fisheries, and aquatic life by excusing more river pollution for decades.
Climate Change Shuts Down a Montana River – Late summer 2016 the Montana FWP took an unprecedented action: it shut-down access to hundreds of miles of the Yellowstone River after thousands of mountain whitefish died in the space of several days. Truth-Out interviewed Waterkeeper on the Yellowstone fish-kill and resulting closure and what it means for the future of water resources management in Montana.