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Capitol Building, Helena, Montana [Courtesy city-data.com]

In late March, the Governor signed House Bill 20 into law. It provides injunctive relief for enforcement of water rights, providing that a person trying to enforce a water right must be awarded reasonable costs and attorney fees.

House Bill 39 was signed into law and revises the water right ownership update process between the DNRC and the Department of Revenue, and requires updated water right ownership records based on property transfers.

The Governor signed House Bill 304 on May 8th, 2007. The law establishes a water policy interim committee that is to provide state agency oversight, research and study on water-related issues. It shall conduct a detailed analysis and study of issues related to water quantity, water quality and water use in Montana. The committee will focus on studying the new requirements implemented in House Bill 831.

House Bill 831, the Groundwater Development in Closed Basins bill, applies to anyone -- rancher, farmer, homebuilder, and developer -- who wants a groundwater permit in a "closed basin." It was signed into law by the Governor on May 3rd.  The new law allows the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to issue permits for wells in closed basins as long as the new appropriator takes steps to compensate for harm, if any, to senior water rights holders. It amends application requirements in a closed basin, and provides that certain applications appropriate to surface water are exempt from closed basin requirements. It addresses issues brought up with the Montana State Supreme Court decision in April 2006 that recognizes the "connectivity" of ground water to surface water, and it applies to water use for agriculture, development and recreation.

House Bill 829 provides a means to ratify the impending water rights compact among the Blackfeet Tribe, the State of Montana and the United States. It creates a Blackfeet Tribes water rights compact mitigation account and creates a Blackfeet Tribes water rights compact infrastructure account, which will be administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The Jefferson, Madison, Upper Gallatin, Upper Clark Fork and Bitterroot basins were declared closed by the Legislature in 1993 to additional surface water rights applications because those streams are already considered over appropriated. That means current water rights claim more water from the rivers than their flow. Until the water adjudication process is completed, no one will know whose junior water rights are valid.

Signed by the Governor in early May, Senate Bill 376 provides that the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation may enter into a contract with the United States for water held in federal reservoirs as a means of protecting the state’s interest in those waters. It also allows the state to contract for water from existing federal reservoirs when the water will be put to beneficial use in a basin other than the basin where the federal reservoir is located, and limits the amount of water for which the Department may contract.

When the Governor signed Senate Bill 126, he authorized the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to continue to fund and implement projects to restore and enhance fisheries habitat and ensure that funding from the resource indemnity trust fund is maintained. This law specifically addresses bull trout and cutthroat trout programs.

The signing of Senate Bill 128 allows FWP to change water rights that it holds in fee simple to in stream flow purposes to protect, maintain or enhance stream flow to benefit fishery resources. The law repeals the termination date on leasing of water rights by FWP for in stream flow purposes. It also provides additional criteria that must be met and procedures that must be followed for FWP to change an appropriation right or leased water right to in stream flow purposes. This ensures that a change in appropriation right will not adversely affect other water right holders.

In his veto of Senate Bill 407, which garnered wide support, Governor Schweitzer said it would allow the discharge of coalbed methane water into unlined ponds, which, when coupled with precipitation, "destroys soil capability and threatens any downstream irrigated agriculture."

He added that ponds used for discharge generally have leakage, and a channel below and between ponds is likely to have flows as a result of the leakage. Schweitzer also said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned that if Senate Bill 407 became law, the state would probably violate minimum federal clean water standards. The Governor stressed that without his veto "the salty CBM water will ultimately find its way into designated state waters."

Information about all bills from the 2007 session can be found at http://laws.leg.mt.gov/pls/laws07/law0203w$.startup.

The Native Waters Group [Courtesy Project WET ]

The display opening was kicked off with a “Discover the Cultural and Scientific Aspects of the Missouri” workshop for K-12 teachers. Ten teachers from Cascade, Big Sandy, Great Falls and Fort Benton spent the day exploring the cultural and scientific aspects of the Missouri, which included a visit to the Native Waters display. Concepts covered during the workshop included: watersheds, the connection between people and water throughout the basin, and point source and non point source pollution.

Teachers who attended the workshop were encouraged to have their students return to the Agriculture Museum in Fort Benton to visit the exhibit. One teacher from Big Sandy was awarded a field trip stipend to rent a bus to visit with her students. Her second and third grade students will be visiting the exhibit on May 21st. Two workshop teachers from Fort Benton also had plans to bring their students through the exhibit. Through June 4th, all are welcome to visit the display at the Fort Benton Agriculture Museum.

Currently, the display is available for rent through Native Waters at Project WET International. For more information see http://www.projectwet.org/nativewaters/exhibit.htm.

Dr. JoEllen Russell

Her work in biogeochemical dynamics, the interactions between the biological, geological and chemical components of Earth's environment, has earned her worldwide accolades. Her career has taken her from doing research at Princeton University to running the University of Arizona’s Biogeochemical Dynamics Laboratory, where she serves as an assistant professor of Geosciences. Her past research focused on quantifying the impact of changes in the physical climate system on the fluxes between reservoirs of carbon. Her current focus is on the shift of the Westerly Winds over the Southern Ocean, around Antarctica. This water mass is critical to the global ocean uptake of carbon dioxide and heat.

Be sure to check upcoming issues of Montana Water News for Dr. Russell’s full interview, and her perspective on jet stream changes for Montana.

As always, we strongly encourage students to attend and participate -- and students who are receiving a stipend from the Water Center are required to present their research here. This year's first place oral presenter in the student competition will be awarded an expense-paid trip to the annual National AWRA meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 12 - 15, 2007. The student will also give the winning presentation to the Albuquerque audience.

We are inviting sponsors to help bring this event to our state's water resource researchers, managers and students. If your organization or business is interested in sponsoring part of this annual conference, please visit the MT AWRA website at http://awra.org/state/montana/events/conference.htm to download the Call for Sponsors document. You will also find conference and pre-conference info, as well as a link to cool MT AWRA merchandise.

The planning committee is very excited about this year's program. The pre-conference, plenary and technical speakers, banquet and conference presentations promise to deliver excellent information and fun. We invite you to showcase your work with people from throughout our state who are involved in assuring Montanans have plenty of clean, flowing water. Please remember to submit your abstract no later than July 11th, 2007.

Tammy Crone demonstrates tree planting techniques [Courtesy Janet Bender-Keigley]

Mandeville flows north from the Hyalite Mountains, through Montana State University and the center of Bozeman, and feeds into the East Gallatin River. Historically, it was a productive trout stream. Now it has pronounced pollution problems, primarily from runoff and sediment. The willows may help stabilize the stream banks and provide shade that will reduce both the water temperature and evaporation. As the area develops, Mandeville Creek and its banks will be protected as attempts to restore it to a more natural state continue.

• Middle Clark Fork Watershed: Nine mile Creek
• Bitterroot Watershed: Lolo Creek
• Blackfoot Watershed: Keep Cool and Stonewall Creeks
• Flathead Watershed: Dayton and Ronan Creeks

“Over 4,000 miles of Montana’s streams and rivers are listed by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks as ‘chronically or periodically dewatered,’” says Montana Water Trust Director, John Ferguson.  “This grant will allow us to work closely with landowners on irrigation efficiency and in stream water rights management in these target watersheds.”  Go to http://www.montanawatertrust.org/ to learn more.

The Gallatin Country Spring Water Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 31st from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. in the Community Room of the Gallatin County Courthouse. John Tubbs, Administrator of the Water Resources Division at the DNRC, will describe how House Bill 831, the Groundwater Development in Closed Basins bill, will be implemented, as well as work that will be done by the recently-created Water Policy Interim Committee. Steve Custer, MSU professor in Earth Sciences, will give an update on surface-groundwater studies. Scott Compton, regional manager of the DNRC, will talk about river flow measurement in the Big Sky area.

Practitioners from watershed organizations, federal and state agencies, tribes, universities and local governments will use the Watershed Plan Builder to address polluted runoff, the largest contributor to water quality problems nationwide .

Once the data are entered, the tool produces an outline of a comprehensive watershed plan tailored to a specific watershed. It features links to EPA, other federal agencies and state water programs. The Watershed Plan Builder walks the practitioner through various watershed-planning steps:

• watershed monitoring and assessment
• community outreach
• selection and application of available models
• best management practices
• implementation
• feedback
  

During the next six months, the Watershed Plan Builder will be available to watershed organizations, federal and state agencies, tribes, universities and local governments to beta test the application and provide feedback. Staff from EPA's water programs developed the tool, with input from state, tribal, local agency experts, and other local watershed practitioners. More information is available at http://iaspub.epa.gov/watershedplan/watershedPlanning.do?pageId=48&navId=35.

“Dynamic programming is a method of solving multi-stage problems in which decisions at one stage become the conditions governing the succeeding stages. It can be applied to the management of water reservoirs, allowing them to be operated more efficiently. This is one of the few books dedicated solely to dynamic programming techniques used in reservoir management. The dynamic programming models presented in this book have been applied to reservoir systems all over the world, helping the reader to appreciate the applicability and limits of these models. The book also includes a model for the operation of a reservoir during an emergency situation. This volume will be a valuable reference to researchers in hydrology, water resources and engineering, as well as professionals in reservoir management.” Cambridge University Press

To learn more visit the Cambridge University Press website at http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521874083.

Please direct any questions to Dave Feldman, MT DEQ, at (406) 444-6764.

Do you have more news?

Take special note of upcoming national and local water meetings on the Events Calendar at MONTANA WATER.

Gallatin County Spring Water Meeting, Bozeman, May 31, 2007 [INFO]

Wastewater Collection Systems, Butte, June 1, 2007 [INFO]

Volunteer Water Monitoring Basic Training, Bozeman, June 1 - 2, 2007 [INFO]

River Clean-Up Week, June 2 - 10, 2007 [INFO]

American Fisheries Society 137th Annual Meeting, San Fransisco, CA, June 2 - 6, 2007 [INFO]

Western State Workshop, Park City, UT, June 3 - 6, 2007 [INFO]

2007 AFS Fish Health Section Annual Meeting, Grand Teton National Park, WY, June 4 - 6, 2007 [INFO]

Western Fish Disease Workshop, Grand Teton National Park, WY, June 4 - 6, 2007 [INFO]

Greater Yellowstone Coalition's 24th Annual Meeting, Cody, WY, June 7 - 9, 2007 [INFO]

12th Annual Contaminated and Hazardous Waste Site Management, Toronto, Ontario, June 11 - 15, 2007 [INFO]

Aquaculture Biosecurity Workshop, Bayfield, WI, June 14, 2007 [INFO]

Eastern Fish Health Workshop, Gettysburg, PA, June 18, 2007 [INFO]

Salmonid Disease Workshop, Corvallis, OR, June 18 - 29, 2007 [INFO]

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Toronto, Ontario, June 24 - 28, 2007 [INFO]

2007 AWRA Summer Specialty Conference, Vail, CO, June 25 - 27, 2007 [INFO]

Energy - Water Nexus Meeting, Boise, ID, June 25 - 27, 2007 [INFO]

5th New Zealand Mudsnail in the Western USA Conference, Davis, CA, June 27 - 28, 2007 [INFO]