Upper Missouri Waterkeeper

BLM continues oil and gas approvals despite federal shutdown; Environmental groups are petitioning the state to stop issuing pollution discharge permits until new standards can be set; The Montana State Prison has the green light to resume water use in all areas of the facility after a water line broke in October.

In 2023, the DEQ listed sections of the Gallatin River as impaired due to recurring algal blooms. The blooms choke out fish and degrade water quality. State scientists are amid a six-year study trying to understand what's causing the harmful blooms. The state says it will use the results to inform local development regulations and a plan to protect the river.

A new lawsuit claims the Montana Department of Environmental Quality failed to assess how nutrient pollution from septic systems near the town of Big Sky will harm the Gallatin River.

The Milk River Project provides drinking and irrigation water to thousands of people along the Hi-Line. After a catastrophic failure in 2024, managers say irrigation will soon be restored in part. And, a lawsuit filed by conservation groups alleges water quality violations in Big Hole River management.

State environmental regulators have denied a petition to list the Big Hole River as impaired. Water conservation groups worry this will continue to harm the river, and its aquatic life.

State environmental regulators have proposed changes to how they assess pollutants that can kill aquatic species in rivers and streams. Environmental groups worry the methods aren’t scientifically sound.

Outfitters, conservationists and citizens have been sounding the alarm about rapidly declining trout numbers in southwest Montana’s Upper Missouri Headwaters for years. But demands for the state to dedicate more resources to studying the problem largely fell on deaf ears.

In 2016 Montana became one of the first states to adopt numeric standards for certain river systems. Now, under a law passed during the last legislative session, it’s become the first to repeal them.

The groups want the utility company to pay for an ecological assessment on the Madison River, including an inventory of the brown trout population.

Where there are stressed fish, there are stressed fishing guides. As Montana and much of the west feel the effects of persistent drought, those with a line in the future of the state’s fisheries are navigating high temperatures, low flow and closures across the state.