Gallatin River's low flow pinches some irrigators
Source: Billings Gazette
July 06, 2007
BOZEMAN - The Gallatin River is flowing at about half its normal capacity for this time of year, and some water rights holders have been told to stop taking water from the river.
West Gallatin Water Commissioner George Alberda has ordered that only water rights dating from 1890 and earlier could continue to be used. All ponds with permit dates younger than 1890 must be shut off.
The orders apply to surface water rights holders, most of whom are farmers who use river water to irrigate their fields. Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation says there are more than 5,000 rights holders in the Gallatin River basin.
Most of those are cut off at some point every summer, but this year the cuts in the Gallatin basin are coming a few weeks early because of dry conditions.
"If the river continues to drop the way it has been, I would say later this week, there probably would be more," Alberda said.
The Gallatin River was flowing at 879 cubic feet per second near Gallatin Gateway as of Monday, according the U.S. Geological Survey. The median flow for early July is 1,880 cfs.
The Gallatin and many other area streams are running low because of an early snowmelt in the mountains and a recent stretch of hot weather with little to no rain.
Several times over the past week, daily high temperatures have reached into the 90s, as recorded at Gallatin Field airport. On Thursday, the recorded high of 100 broke a 30-year-old record. National Weather Service forecasters are predicting more 90-degree days in the coming week.
