Pedro Marques

More than half a million acres in southwest Montana have been impacted by conifer expansion. It used to be that fires would come through these landscapes and burn back the trees, but that natural cycle isn’t happening anymore. Now, more trees are encroaching into traditional sagebrush habitat, and that has impacts on our water supply.

The Big Hole Watershed Committee warned the public a week ago such measures were likely possible. Sections of the river from headwaters to North Fork Big Hole River and from Tony Schoonen Fishing Access Site to the river mouth have dropped below acceptable flow levels.

The Big Hole Watershed Committee said Monday that a section of the river from the headwaters to the North Fork Big Hole River and another from the Tony Schoonen Fishing Access Site to the river mouth are nearing flows low enough to trigger the voluntary conservation measures.

By October 2021, all of Montana was in severe drought — the worst the state had seen in decades. But Montana has seen bad dry spells before, forcing ranchers, farmers, conservationists and recreators to confront a collective dilemma: When water is in short supply, how can there be enough for everyone?