water

State officials and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) this year gained sizable water rights east of Missoula. Last week, they solicited feedback from water users on how they intend to exercise that right.

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.

Milltown dam water right will be used to support fish, state, CSKT say; Lawmakers expand teacher incentive program; Bill aims to regulate the use of sexually explicit AI-generated images.

Montana legislators seek to protect a main source of eastern Montana’s water as wells start to run dry. A proposed bill would pause new permits for the Fox Hills-Hell Creek Aquifer to study its viability.

Montana’s water operators are responsible for keeping drinking water clean and sewers running. But in rural towns, many are aging out of the workforce. Finding replacements for these operators caught between dedication and retirement hasn't been easy.

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.

A recent report from the American Farm Bureau Federation showed that Montana lost millions of dollars worth of crops due to extreme weather; A federal judge in Montana this week extended a pause in an ongoing lawsuit over the state’s attempt to ban TikTok.

The Montana Supreme Court upheld the water use permit for a controversial proposal for a copper mine near the Smith River. The mine is now fully permitted to be built.

You probably know snowpack affects the amount of water in our rivers. But snowmelt also recharges underground water systems and flows back into the rivers and streams, keeping them running even after the snow melts. What happens to groundwater supplies when the snowmelt comes earlier in the year?

Montana’s early snow season is off to a slow start, but it's too soon to be worried, hydrologist says.