Welcome to the newsletter about all things water in Montana!

MONTANA WATER News will come your way via email every few weeks with fresh news about meetings and water topics we hope are of interest to you. If you do not want to receive this newsletter, please scroll down and follow the directions to unsubscribe. We are using "HTML" to include images and photos in this newsletter. If you are seeing only text in this email, or if it's not easy to read, please make sure your email program is set to view "HTML"messages, or view the newsletter online in the newsletter archives.

The Montana American Water Resources Association meeting in Butte was a grand success with record number of attendees and several interesting sessions.

Visit the Montana AWRA web site to view the agenda and meeting proceedings, or check out more photos in the online photo gallery. You can also download the closing presentation, "Climate Change in Montana", by Phil Farnes.

Congratulations to four students who were recognized for exceptional paper and poster presentations!

MONTANA WATER Grants & Funding Directory

The Grants & Funding Directory is a great place to begin your search for funding. For those of you looking for watershed management assistance, check out the EPA Watershed Initiative Grants. You can search for funding opportunities for a specific project, or browse through the possibilities -- from drinking water and fish habitat to reclamation and wetlands. There's sure to be some valuable information for you!

Go to the Grants & Funding Directory!

The Montana Water Center's Water Resources Research Program

If you are a Montana University-based researcher and are interested in applying for USGS-funded research through the Montana Water Center, RFP's are now online for your review. The deadline is November 4, 2003 for 104(b) pre-proposals and March 1, 2004 for 104(g) grants.

Visit the Water Resources Research Program site for more information.

So many meetings, so little time. Even so, there are a few that water folks just shouldn't miss! Find more information on these and other upcoming events on the Events Calendar at MONTANA WATER.

2003 Watershed Symposium: Opportunities for Communities and Landscapes, Great Falls, December 8 & 9, 2003 [INFO]

In what started out as a seed project for research of a much grander scale, hydrogeologist Jon Reiten from the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology in Billings embarked on a fascinating study. He began working to pinpoint the source of recharge to 50-year-old mine workings, the source of serious acid mine drainage in Belt, Montana. The idea came from a research team member, Shawn Reddish (student then, professional geologist now), who wanted to learn why the fish were dying and acid mine drainage increasing in her hometown Belt swimming hole.

Now the team is inventorying wells in the 30-square-mile study area. By age dating groundwater, the recharge source entering the mine may be determined, with the ultimate goal of reducing non-point pollution, improving stream habitat, and restoring groundwater and surface water quality. Hydrogeologic data and water-quality information will be used to calculate changes in recharge and groundwater flow rates, as well as acid mine drainage discharges under various scenarios and combinations of cropping, dewatering, and other techniques.

The Water Center's seed funds for Reiten's work have leveraged support from other agencies, along with furnishing a training ground and mentorship for new professionals learning to solve complex water problems. Reiten is expanding the study to include 3-D geologic modeling of the mine itself, along with satellite coverage and remote sensing of the entire study area. "This is a very interesting problem and project. It's opened our eyes to observing abnormally wet areas above mines as sources of vertical recharge," says Reiten.

More information on this study is found at the Montana Water Center's Water Resources Research Program web site.