water

The amended EPA rule is to comply with a Supreme Court ruling this year that narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act and the agency's power to regulate waterways and wetlands.

The EPA says the program is intended to strengthen sewage and stormwater collections against intense rainfall events, which can overwhelm water treatment facilities

The Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of north-central Montana are closing in on a bipartisan deal to settle their water rights in Congress. The more than $1 billion policy comes after decades of negotiation and would close out a century of tribal water disputes in the state.

Federal environmental regulators have approved a plan for protecting western Montana’s Bitterroot River from nutrient pollution.

Consistent and mostly above normal precipitation and snowpack means the statewide water supply outlook is either maintaining or improving across most of the state.

State funding to replace aging water infrastructure is getting a boost this year due to the recent federal bipartisan infrastructure bill. Lincoln County plans to move forward with local school board elections after its entire election department resigned last month, according to a county commissioner.

The Milk River basin’s snowpack in north-central Montana sits at 250% of normal. That’s a major shot in the arm for local farmers and ranchers who have endured years of devastating drought.

Above-normal precipitation last month boosted snowpack levels across most of the state. The current snowpack gives experts some early insight into what the spring snowmelt might look like.

Federal environmental officials this week announced that over $18 million from last year’s infrastructure bill will help small Montana communities test for water contaminants.

Montana’s snowpack decreased statewide following January’s relatively dry conditions.