Montana’s updated Drought Management Plan is now complete. Three years in the making, its ambitious goal is to build drought resilience across this semi-arid state. The plan’s authors say it’s more than a fresh coat of paint on top of its nearly 30-year-old predecessor. They describe it as a brand new way to proactively think about, respond and adapt to drought.
Montana Public Radio’s Edward O’Brien has read the new plan from cover-to-cover and joins MTPR’s Austin Amestoy to discuss a few highlights.
Austin Amestoy Ed, the Montana Drought Management Plan Last updated 1995. What's changed since then to warrant a major overhaul?
Edward O'Brien Just about everything. Austin, for one, Montana's first crack at a drought plan back in 1995 predated the creation of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Now, that's a map released weekly detailing drought conditions across the country. According to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's Cori Hach. It's not just any old map.
Cori Hach It's what triggers kind of the millions of dollars of federal assistance that comes into Montana each year for producers, etc..
Edward O'Brien Another change: technology. The state's network of gear that monitors drought has expanded tremendously since '95. The sophistication of these tools now available to scientists compared to then, jeez, 19 days difference. And last but certainly not least, the climate itself has changed. Let's be clear. Drought is complex and a completely natural part of Montana's landscape, But rising temperatures associated with climate change are expected to intensify. So in summary, Austin, the world has changed a lot in 28 years.
Austin Amestoy You mentioned Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Is that the agency responsible for this new updated drought management plan?
Edward O'Brien DNRC coordinated this massive project and seven state agencies helped guide the process. DNRC's Corey Hawk tells Mtpa the agency decided to keep this project in-house instead of contracting it out. How come? Well, because they wanted local stakeholders to have direct involvement in its creation.
Austin Amestoy Stakeholders, Ed, that word, unpack it.
Edward O'Brien Yeah, that's government jargon. That basically means people with skin in the game. People like Republican State Senator Walt Sales. Now, Sales isn't just a state lawmaker. His family has farmed and ranched for generations in the southwest Montana community of Amsterdam.
Walt Sales We have minimal storage, especially on the west side of the Gallatin. There is no storage, so we rely solely on the surface water flows of that river and other tributaries, but predominantly the west Gallatin.
Edward O'Brien So water is obviously a really big deal to the Gallatin Valley. If a severe, prolonged drought were to reduce or even deplete local water, sources, Sales tells me. To put it lightly, it'd be challenging to pencil out a living.
Austin Amestoy Right. So how does the new drought management plan hopefully prevent something like that from happening? Well, for.
Edward O'Brien One, the plan's architect say it's designed to be way more flexible and proactive than its predecessor. For example, a statewide drought vulnerability assessment will enable managers to prioritize resources and help them make better decisions on the fly. The final plan includes 36 recommendations. Now, obviously, there's no way we're going to line item list each and every one here, but well, here is one. Apparently, Montanans are clamoring for more water storage. The plan mentions more natural water storage in places like wetlands and improving some existing manmade surface water storage projects. Oh, and more investment in drought modeling and monitoring tech.
Austin Amestoy Sounds like a lot of items that are going to carry a price tag. And what is all this going to cost?
Edward O'Brien That's the big question mark, isn't it? It is early sledding. The plan was released a few weeks ago and the implementation is just starting. Right now, it's all carrot and no stick. A lot of talk of more cooperation and collaboration. Money will eventually enter the equation. And let's face it, that's where battle lines are always drawn. In the meantime, remember those stakeholders we chatted about a few minutes ago? Those regular Montanans who depend on water and helped create this new document. Well, Walt, sales suspects they'll not only demand state lawmakers to learn this drought plan, but also strongly encourage them to back it up with the necessary funding.
Walt Sales And hopefully with the right people, they'll see the value of managing this water, staying ahead of the curve. Because without that, we're so far behind. And it affects not just agriculture, but our municipal, our industry. I mean, there's not a person out there listening, that doesn't use water.
Edward O'Brien So Austin Montana's brand new drought management plan is live and in the wild and can be found at https://drought.mt.gov/montana-drought-management-plan
Austin Amestoy Ed, thank you so much for sharing this reporting with us.
Edward O'Brien Great to be with you, Austin. Thank you.
