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MONTANA WATER NEWS will come your way via email every month with fresh news about meetings and water topics that we hope is of interest to you. If you do not want to receive this newsletter, please scroll down and follow the directions to unsubscribe. 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.

Why are Montana's Beavers so Busy?

Dr. Lisa Eby

Earlier this year, Dr. Lisa Eby, University of Montana, was awarded a grant from the Montana Water Center's USGS 104b Water Research Program to study how amphibians in Montana are influenced by the beaver activity. Beavers create habitats conducive to breeding populations of amphibians. Research has found that habitat fragmentation and destruction is one of the leading causes of amphibian population declines.

The American Beaver

Dr. Eby is examining differences in amphibian populations among watersheds with and without beaver using aerial photographs from the past 70 years. She hopes to find how the amphibian population functions as the landscape changes. Preliminary findings show the watersheds with the most breeding activity currently have beaver activity or have had beaver activity in the past. As conservation efforts are typically reactive rather than proactive, Dr. Eby hopes her findings will enable land managers to manage their lands proactively. For instance, managers could work to increase beaver populations or construct man-made wetlands to increase amphibian populations before more species become threatened.

Benefits from beaver activity to the watershed extend beyond increasing breeding activity of amphibian populations. Future research could examine the extent to which the presence of beaver ponds prevents dewatering of streams during dry periods. These ponds are storage areas that release water slowly providing important base flow. Additionally, beaver ponds could be used as settling ponds in areas that have high sediment runoff due to grazing.

Day-Long Symposium Takes a Look at the Montana Water Use Act -- 25 Years Later

Mark your calendars for a day-long conference, Stream Preservation and the Yellowstone In-Stream Reservation: Celebrating Continuity and Contemplating Change. MSU’s Wheeler Center and the Cinnabar Foundation are sponsoring a conference at the Livingston Depot Center on December 9, 2004, from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm. Invited speakers, panels and discussions fill out the day.

For more information call Julie Hitchcock at (406) 994-0336, or email [yellowstonecelebration@hotmail.com].

Student Research Opportunity

Dr. Joel Cahoon of Montana State University's Engineering Department is recruiting an research assistant to help study fish passage in culverts. Three graduate students and a soon-to-be post-doc are already assigned to the project, and he is seeking the final MS student to round out the team. Call Dr. Cahoon at (406) 994-5961 for more information.

Whirling Disease Research RFP

The Request for Pre-Proposals for the Whirling Disease Research Initiative was released on November 10 by the National Partnership for the Management of Wild and Native Coldwater Fisheries. The due date for submittal of the pre-proposals is Friday, December 10, 2004. You can view the pre-proposal guidelines at Whirling Disease Initiative web site [water.montana.edu/mwc/programs/fisheries/whirling/default.htm]. Contact Liz Galli-Noble with questions at 994-4841 or via email [lgnoble@montana.edu].

And, Another RFP ...

The RFP for the Student Water Research Fellowship Program is also available at the Montana Water Center web site [water.montana.edu/mwc/programs/research/usgs]. The deadline for submittal of these proposals is November 26, 2004.

Talk on Surface-Water/Ground-Water Interactions at USGS in Helena December 1st

Jim Constantz from USGS in Menlo Park, CA will present: “The Use of Heat as a Tracer for Examining Stream Exchanges with Ground Water” at USGS (3162 Bozeman Avenue) in Helena on December 1 at 10:00 am. Surface water and ground water were once regarded as distinct resources that could be used and managed independently. We now recognize that they are intimately coupled in many places, constituting a single system that must be understood and managed together.

For more information, contact David Nimick at (406) 457-5918 or John Kilpatrick at 457-5902 or visit the USGS web site [water.usgs.gov/pubs/fs/2004/3010/#pdf].

Call for Papers: Soil & Water Conservation Society

November 29 is the last day to submit a proposal to present at the Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting scheduled for July 30 through August 4, 2005 in Rochester, New York. The conference will focus on four key topics of concern for professionals working to conserve natural resources locally and globally:

SWCS conferences bring researchers, practitioners, and policymakers at all levels of government and a broad cross section of other interest groups together to explore current opportunities in natural resource management and planning. Everything you need to submit proposals for oral and poster presentations or to organize special concurrent sessions or workshops can be found on the SWCS web site [www.swcs.org/t_what_callforpapers05.htm]. For questions, contact Sue Ann Lynes at (515) 289-2331, ext. 12, or via email [sueann.lynes@swcs.org].

Funding Opportunity at NOAA

The NOAA Hydrologic Research Program announces an effort to create cost-effective, collaborative research between NOAA and academic communities and other private or public agencies that have expertise in the hydrometeorologic, hydrologic, and hydraulic routing sciences. These activities will engage researchers and students in basic and applied research to improve the scientific understanding of river forecasting. Ultimately these efforts will improve the accuracy of forecasts and warnings of rivers and flash floods.

Pre-proposals must be received by the NOAA/NWS no later than 3 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, December 17, 2004.

For information, contact Dr. Pedro Restrepo at (301) 713-0640, ext. 210, or via email [Pedro.Restrepo@noaa.gov]. The announcement is posted at the GPO web site [http://www.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2004_register&docid=04-24750].

2005 Montana Water Calendar Soon off the Press

Shortly, the 2005 Montana Water black-and-white photographic calendar -- our first ever -- will be available from the Montana Water Center. Molly Boucher designed the calendar using photos shot by friends and staff of the Montana Water Center. Each month of the calendar features a different water theme. We think you'll like it!

Contact Sue Faber via email [sfaber@montana.edu] for your very own copy. If we run out of hard copies, we'll post it on the web.

New Online Training

Visit River Network's new online training course on the Clean Water Act at the Clean Water Act web site [http://www.cleanwateract.org./index.cfm]. Interesting features of this course include:

• Indexing by problem
• Information on key Clean Water Act programs
• Summaries of state water quality programs
• Train-the-trainer materials
• An "Ask Us" feature
• Quizzes to test your knowledge

New Publication: Instream Flow

The Instream Flow Council has just released the revised edition of Instream Flows for Riverine Resource Stewardship, the first book ever to embrace the entire field of instream flow administration and application. The IFC is an organization comprised of instream flow professionals from state and provincial fish and wildlife agencies, working to improve the effectiveness of instream flow programs for conserving aquatic resources. This 268-page book may be purchased via the IFC web site [www.instreamflowcouncil.org], or by calling (800) 247-6553. Price is $85.00 plus $8.75 shipping and handling.

Montana EQC Interim Reports Available

The Montana Legislative Environmental Quality Council's reports on its work and recommendations for legislative action in the 2005 session will soon be available. To receive free copies, contact EQC at (406) 444-3724, visit the Montana EQC web site [www.leg.state.mt.us/css/lepo/2003_2004/default.asp], or write to EQC at:

P.O. Box 201704
Helena, MT 59620-1704

The reports are:

• Hydrogen, Wind, Biodiesel, and Ethanol . . . Alternative Energy Sources to Fuel Montana's Future?
• The Electricity Law Handbook: A Montanan's Guide to Understanding Electricity Law
• Understanding Energy in Montana
• Fiscal Pocket Guide: Focus on State Debt

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.