MISSOULA — Following a warm, dry spring and early summer that hammered the winter snowpack, Montana’s rivers are already showing signs of stress with two months of summer to go.
On the first day of July, the Blackfoot Challenge said in a news release that it was preparing for another bad summer of record-low water levels in the Blackfoot River drainage. The Blackfoot Challenge Drought Committee has already taken some steps to prepare water users for the worst and encourage them to conserve water.
“The Blackfoot River is the lifeblood for the people, wildlife and economy of the Blackfoot watershed,” said Blackfoot Challenge Executive Director Seth Wilson. “In coordinating drought response for the last 25 years, we recognize the hardship that extreme drought creates for people who depend on the land and water resources. The Blackfoot Challenge is here to support our communities through a particularly challenging time as we pull together to ensure a resilient future for the river, for agriculture and for rural communities.”
In the winter of 2023-2024, the snow that fell in the Blackfoot River watershed was significantly below average, which caused the Blackfoot Valley to enter exceptional drought by late July 2024. By the end of the summer, it had produced the worst drought conditions that the Blackfoot had seen in several decades, according to the Blackfoot Challenge. Last summer, the Blackfoot Challenge Drought Committee initiated voluntary water conservation measures on July 11, which was the earliest start in 25 years of the drought plan.
This year, more snow fell in the mountains around the Blackfoot Valley, but it melted out too early, leaving the valley in much the same condition as last year. As a result, the river started low in the spring and has continued to drop. As of Wednesday, the gage near Bonner was measuring a streamflow of 839 cubic feet per second, well below the median flow of 2,420 cfs for July 2. The lowest reading for July 2 is 602 cfs measured in 1977, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.
The Blackfoot Drought Response Plan encourages “shared sacrifice for shared benefit” with the goal that all water users – agricultural users and recreationalists alike — voluntarily agree to take actions that will result in water savings and help fish during critical low flow periods. Over the past 25 years, nearly 90 irrigators have participated in the effort to have an equitable distribution of water during low-flow summers.
This year, there’s an additional detail to consider: the enforcement of the Milltown water right for instream flow. When the Milltown Dam was removed in 2008, the 1904 water right went to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to protect instream flow for fish in the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers. But the 2015 CSKT Water Compact allowed for a decade of adjustment before the water right would be enforced.
This year, it kicks in, so Blackfoot water users may need to conserve a bit more. To compensate, the Blackfoot Challenge revised its drought response plan and is doing more outreach with agricultural producers and recreationalists to increase participation. That’s going to put more stress on producers like Potomac rancher Denny Iverson, who’s watched his land get drier and who already had to reduce the size of his herd by 15% last year because he can’t harvest enough hay. Last summer, he was already worried about a second consecutive year of deep drought.
Watch related coverage: Drummond meeting discusses Milltown Water Right
“I’ve followed this El Nino-La Nina cycle for 50 years, I guess. So when I see El Nino coming, our family prepares for that,” Iverson said. “We’ve got good water rights. But a good water right is only good if there’s water in the stream to fill it.”
The Blackfoot basin isn’t in extreme drought yet this year. As of June 26, the Clark Fork, Blackfoot and Bitterroot river basins are all one step below in severe drought conditions, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. However, conditions in all three basins are likely to worsen because the outlook predicts the drought will persist through the end of September.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will likely have to start "Hoot Owl" fishing restrictions on the Blackfoot River, because when the days are hot and the water is shallow, streams heat up quickly. On Tuesday, after two days with temperatures in the mid-90s, the water temperature in the Blackfoot River topped out at 71° Fahrenheit, 8° warmer than the median.
Hoot-owl restrictions start when a stream has warmed to 73° or above for three consecutive days and prohibit fishing during the afternoon to prevent stressing fish even more than they already are. FWP has already placed Hoot Owl restrictions on most of the Madison River in southwest Montana and the Sun River along the Rocky Mountain Front as of Wednesday.
When water gets warmer, the amount of oxygen it can carry decreases, which can be dangerous for fish, especially native trout that require colder environments. Warmer water also contributes to algae growth, especially in streams that are polluted by nitrogen or phosphorus from fertilizers or human and animal waste.
Watch related coverage: Hoot Owl restrictions in effect to protect fish populations in Southwest Montana
Just look at the Clark Fork River east of the Orange Street Bridge in Missoula, and you’ll see bright green algae spreading across the river bottom where it rarely appeared a couple decades ago. And it’s not just there.
The organization Save Wild Trout is reporting widespread algae blooms throughout the Jefferson River basin in southwest Montana, including the Big Hole, Jefferson and Boulder rivers. Save Wild Trout Director Brian Wheeler said the early onset of nuisance algae blooms starting in late June is a troubling indicator of a river system that is unhealthy and on the brink.
Wheeler spent the weekend documenting the algae blooms in the Jefferson basin. He found algae blooms along 35 river miles of the Jefferson River and thick algae mats along much of the Big Hole River that are likely the result of nutrient pollution. He also found two trout that had suffered ill effects.
“June is the new July — a troubling and disturbing reality that doesn’t bode well for our cold-water rivers, waterways, aquatic life, wild trout, and the businesses and communities that depend on them,” Wheeler said. “We can’t protect what we don’t measure. The evidence is right in front of our eyes and backed by science. The facts point to the urgent need to take action, demand accountability, use science to guide solutions, and fight for these rivers’ and wild trout’s survival.”
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.
