MISSOULA, Mont. – Montanans who enjoy the Blackfoot Watershed and other rivers across western Montana should expect an extremely low water year due to record low snowpack.
“This year our peak snowpack was about 60% of what it normally should be,” said Clancy Jandreau, the Water Steward for the Blackfoot Challenge. “That’s pretty close to near record low snowpack for this area.”
The Blackfoot Drought Committee is urging the public’s cooperation in limiting the burden of a drought year and its impacts on fisheries, agriculture, communities and recreational opportunities.
Since 2000, the Blackfoot Challenge has implemented a drought response plan, where nearby irrigators voluntarily implement water conservation strategies to better preserve the watershed during drought years.
“There’s various techniques and actions that they take to conserve water. Some of those include shutting down their irrigation completely and rotating their operations so that they’re reducing their demand on the river,” said Jandreau.
Anglers also play a big role in keeping Montana rivers healthy during a drought. As water temperatures rise, the stress level of native fish in the river also increases. The Blackfoot Challenge recommends anglers fish in cooler stretches of the river and practice safer angling techniques for fish, like using artificial lures instead of bait and having single hooks rather than multiple hooks.
“Since the year 2000, we have seen drought more often than not, and so we’re expecting this to be a continuation into the future,” said Jandreau. “If we can get participation by everybody in these times of need, we’re really building our community resilience, but also the resilience of the river and the fisheries, to handle these kinds of stressful years.”
If you would like to be more involved in preserving Montana’s rivers, you can join conservation groups like the Blackfoot Challenge or Trout Unlimited. Members of the public can also participate in the 21st Annual Blackfoot River cleanup on July 27 at Johnsrud Park.
