Water Monitoring

As snow begins to fall and cold temperatures make it less appealing for people to get out on the river, the Task Force gets the time to look back and analyze a successful 2023 summer’s worth of Gallatin River Water Quality Monitoring data. As we’ve seen, the factors...

When we talk about sources of pollution to rivers and streams, and more specifically about how different sources of pollution find their way into the Gallatin, we are talking about two distinct and different sources: point source, and nonpoint source (NPS) pollution

An insight into the Big Sky community groundwater study by the MT Bureau of Mines and Geology.

An insight into the relationship between the health of the fishery and the promising health of a river.

Based on a review of best available science from the past 10 years, and data collected by the Gallatin River Task Force, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has issued a preliminary determination that the middle segment Gallatin River is impaired.

If you have spent time along the Gallatin, you have undoubtedly seen for yourself or heard the chatter about long, stringy, green algae growing on rocks throughout  the river. This is an algae called Cladophora glomerata (Cladophora). Cladophora is naturally occurring...

If you’ve spent time along the Gallatin in the past few summers, you’ve likely noticed bright-green algae covering rocks from shoreline to shoreline late in the summer as you’re wading to your favorite fishing hole. Like us, you probably have questions. To answer these questions and more, the Task Force has partnered with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality on a multi-year study to determine the primary drivers of the algae blooms and what we must do to stop them.

As you’ve likely noticed, a wide-spread, bright green algae bloom yet again took over our backyard waterway. From the upper reaches of the Taylor Fork to downstream of Portal Creek, filamentous vegetation covered the river-bottom rocks. At first glance, the algae is...

It’s no secret that Big Sky’s water resources are fragile. Water quantity and quality are heavily dependent on a deep winter snowpack and large rain events in the spring, summer, and fall. This precipitation recharges our groundwater resources. As summer wears on and...

Since 2000, the Gallatin River Task Force has monitored water quality in the upper Gallatin watershed. Staffers and volunteers have routinely sampled several locations throughout the watershed to determine how land-use practices impact our streams, creeks, and rivers....