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February 28, 2006
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Welcome
to the newsletter about all things water in Montana!
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.
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| Water
Quality at Fish Hatcheries |
Jennifer Dodge. |
Jennifer Dodge, a sophomore
at Montana State University majoring in Fish and Wildlife Management, was recently
accepted into the Undergraduate Scholars Program to study the effects of water quality
on fin deformities of pallid sturgeon at the Bozeman Fish Technology Center. Pallid
sturgeon, an endangered fish native to the Missouri River, are reared and studied
at the Fish Technology Center as part of recovery efforts for the fish. Researchers
are investigating ecological and physiological requirements of pallid sturgeon. Some
pallid sturgeon raised at the Center are released into the wild and evaluated for
survival. One problem facing researchers is that pallid sturgeon raised in captivity
can develop a fin deformity referred to as fin curl, a curling and thickening of
the pectoral fins. This condition could affect survival of the fish after it is released
into the wild. One possible explanation for fin curl is a nutrient imbalance caused
by differences in water quality in captive environments.
Jenn is measuring
a range of standard water quality parameters like oxygen, gasses and pH, as well
as levels of important ‘micro-nutrients’ such as fluoride, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus,
copper, and zinc. The Center uses both cold and warm spring water from underground
wells, so Jenn will be collecting samples from well boxes as well as from the fish
culture buildings where the water is mixed and treated. This information, along with
histological and nutrient composite evaluations of the pallid sturgeon tissue, will
provide clues to the relationship between water quality, tissue development and the
fin curl condition. If the condition can be related to micro-nutrients, the Center
can develop a specialized sturgeon diet to correct the problem.
Jenn’s study is one
part of a pilot study to develop a standardized water quality monitoring program
for fish hatcheries. Such a program is important for hatcheries that use water from
natural aquatic ecosystems. In this case, Bridger Creek is the receiving water for
effluent from the Center’s fish culture facilities. Monitoring water quality provides
critical information to the Center in its effort to promote the natural health of
Bridger Creek and minimize the effect of the Center’s effluent on downstream aquatic
habitat. Information from studies like Jenn’s will be incorporated into a larger
effort to develop regional and national monitoring programs to better understand
and minimize impacts of fish hatcheries and promote the health of our natural aquatic
ecosystems. [Article submitted by the Bozeman Fish Technology Center] |
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| Mountain
Snowpack Increases Despite Record High Temperatures |
Montana snowpack. |
Despite record high temperatures
for much of the state, mountain snowpack increased in January, resulting in much
better snowpack and streamflow forecasts than a year ago at this time. "So far,
mountain snowpack is well above last year at this time," said Roy Kaiser, Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) water supply specialist. About 60 percent of
the state's snowpack was in place as of February 1, Kaiser said in a press release
last week, with 40 percent of the main snowfall period remaining. Statewide, mountain
snowpack was 108 percent of average and 176 percent of last year. West of the Continental
Divide, snowpack was 105 percent of average and 188 percent of last year; east of
the Divide, snowpack was 101 percent of average and 147 percent of last year. Valley
temperatures across the state ranged from nine degrees above average in southwest
Montana to 20 degrees above average in north central Montana. "January continued
the season’s warm weather pattern, and several valley stations set record high temperatures," said
Kaiser. "However, temperatures remained cool enough in the mountains to prevent
the premature melting of mountain snowpack." Assuming normal precipitation across
Montana, streamflows are forecast to average 94-106 percent west of the Divide and
81-99 percent east of the Divide. Snowpack and streamflow forecasts for the entire
state can be found at the NRCS Water Supply & Reservoir Storage pages at http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/watersupply. |
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| A Test of U.S. Authority Over Waterways |
A
high court case Tuesday probes which bodies of water fall under the Clean Water Act--and
federal oversight. Read the entire article in the Christian Science Monitor. Warren
Richey, staff writer.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0221/p02s02-usju.html |
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| AWRA
2006 Specialty Summer Conference |
| In
the January issue of Montana Water we failed to list an important water conference.
It’s the AWRA 2006 Specialty Summer Conference on “Adaptive Management of Water Resources”
slated for June 26-28, 2006. Check this link for details: http://www.awra.org/meetings/Montana2006/index.html. |
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| New
Tool to Diagnose Sick Streams |
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For water resource managers
baffled at the sight of deformed fish and dying mayflies, the U.S. EPA has developed
a new web-based tool to ascertain why a stream is contaminated. In the past, diagnosing
sick streams was troublesome because scientists had to untangle several complex parameters
that interact to impair stream health, such as toxic chemicals, manure wash-off from
nearby farms, and stream channelization. The new system, the Causal Analysis/Diagnosis
Decision Information System (CADDIS), guides users through a process to pinpoint
the cause of poor health. Users first complete worksheets to eliminate obvious problems
and then take a strength-of-evidence approach to make a defensible case for attacking
a stressor. The final diagnosis is the first step before drafting a Total Maximum
Daily Load report of any pollutant flowing into the water body. To access the conceptual
models, sample worksheets, case studies, and information on CADDIS, visit http://cfpub.epa.gov/caddis. |
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| USGS
Develops Data for MOPEX Test Watersheds |
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The USGS Center for Earth
Resources Observation and Science (EROS) is working with the Model Parameter Estimation
Experiment (MOPEX) to provide data to the hydrologic community. MOPEX researchers
perform atmospheric and hydrologic modeling. EROS, the USGS Water Discipline and
the University of California, Los Angeles, are using data from the Elevation Derivatives
for National Applications (EDNA) database to develop boundaries for selected test
watersheds. Data layers for 431 test watersheds in the United States have been compiled
and will be available for download. Additional information, including a Web-based
tool to define and download a watershed for any conterminous U.S. point of interest,
is available at http://edna.usgs.gov. Contact:
Bruce Worstell, Sioux Falls, SD, 605-594-6047; George Leavesley, Denver, CO, 303-236-5026. |
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| Whirling
Disease Research in Yellowstone National Park |
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The latest Journal of
Aquaculture Health International features an article on whirling disease in Yellowstone
National Park by Amy Rose, Julie Alexander and Sylvia Murcia.
Download the current
issue at:
http://water.montana.edu/pdfs/AHI_04_FEB_2006.pdf.
The article is on page 22. |
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| "How
Will Completion of the Adjudication Affect Water Management in Montana?" |
| This
paper was recently released by the Upper Clark Fork River Basin Steering Committee.
This paper is the result of many hours of deliberation on the fundamental changes
to water rights enforcement, administration and management that will result from
completion of the state-wide water rights adjudication. While completion remains
several years away, the Steering Committee hopes to stimulate discussion by Montana
water users, water managers, and policy makers of the changes and their implications
so that appropriate responses to them can be identified, discussed and put in place
before the final water rights decrees are issued. If you have questions or comments
or would like a hard copy of the paper, please contact the Steering Committee Facilitator,
Gerald Mueller, at gmueller@montana.com or
543-0026. |
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| Water
Widgets for Mac Users |
Attention
Mac users! Check out these two new streamflow Dashboard Widgets available at the
Apple Download site. These widgets are of particular interest to kayakers, rafters,
fishermen and anyone who cares about river flows. Both widgets require Tiger, Mac
OS X 10.4 or later. And, they're free!
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White Water Widget: Get river flow information from any United States Geological Survey
(USGS) station. The Whitewater Widget allows you to save, edit, reorder or remove
your favorite stations, switch between CFS and FT, and graph the flow in realtime. |
White Water Widget. |
River Levels Widget: Provides an easy way to monitor the amount of water flowing in
your favorite streams and rivers right from your Dashboard. Once any United States
Geological Survey (USGS) stream-gauge station is selected, it is automatically refreshed
to always provide you with the latest graph of the water-level.
Sorry Windows PC Users! Next
month we'll try to find something fun and new for you, too. |
River Levels Widget. |
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So
many meetings, so little time. Take special note of upcoming national and local water
meetings on the Events
Calendar at MONTANA WATER. |
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 The
Montana Natural Resource Professionals Shades of Green Living Series, Billings, February
28, 2006
[INFO]
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2006
Spring Engineering Festival, Bozeman, March 2 - 3, 2006
[INFO]
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Congressional
Briefing on Pesticides in the Nation’s Streams and Ground Water, Washington, DC,
March 3, 2006
[INFO]
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7th
Specialised Conference on Small Water and Wastewater Systems, City of Merida, Mexico,
March 7 - 10, 2006
[INFO]
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The
Remediation Course, Denver, CO, March 13 - 17, 2006
[INFO]
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World
Water Forum, Mexico City, Mexico, March 16 - 22, 2006
[INFO]
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American
Society of Mining and Reclamation 2006 Annual Meeting, St. Louis, MO, March 27 -
29, 2006
[INFO]
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MWCC
Outreach and Education Meeting, Helena, March 30, 2006
[INFO]
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Collaborating
in The Current: Poster/Exhibit Submission Deadline, Sioux City, NE, March 31, 2006
[INFO]
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Produced
Waters Workshop: Energy and Water – How Can We Get Both for the Price of One?, Fort
Collins, CO, April 4 - 5, 2006
[INFO]
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International
Conference on Hydrology and Management of Forested Wetlands, New Bern, NC, April
8 - 12, 2006
[INFO]
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