Floods and Droughts

The WY-MT WSC is collaborating with the USGS Water Mission Area and other federal and state partners to quantify and understand the effects wildfires have on water quality. These findings provide high value datasets to researchers and assist resource managers with decision making in fire-prone landscapes throughout Wyoming and Montana. Two watersheds are currently being studied in Montana. Each...

The WY-MT WSC is collaborating with the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center to understand the dynamics of streamflows in small, mountain streams during the course of the year, and to describe the amount of variability associated with those measurements. These findings will assist fisheries biologists who are researching temperature and streamflow effects on cutthroat trout and will help...

Peak-flow frequency information is needed for flood-plain mapping, design of highway infrastructure, and many other purposes across Montana. The USGS Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center has an ongoing project working to update peak-flow frequency estimates at USGS streamgages across the state.

The USGS WY-MT Water Science Center provided discharge measurements and high water mark (HWM) flagging for the June 2018 flooding along Elk Creek in Augusta, Montana.

StreamStats is a Web application that provides access to an assortment of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analytical tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management, and for engineering and design purposes.

The Smith River watershed is an important recreational and agricultural area in Meagher and Cascade counties in west-central Montana. Thousands of visitors travel to the area annually to float and fish the Smith River. Additionally, most of the water used to irrigate 36,000 acres of the upper Smith River watershed is withdrawn from the Smith River or its tributaries. During a recent drought...

The USGS monitors drought conditions at more than 300 streamgages across Wyoming and Montana. Low-flow conditions are expressed as percentiles comparing current (within the past few hours) instantaneous flow to historical daily mean flow for all days of the year.

Major floods in 1996-1997 on the Yellowstone River intensified public debate over the effects of human activities on the Yellowstone River. The Yellowstone River Conservation District Council partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a cumulative-effects study on the Yellowstone. For that study, the USGS calculated streamflow statistics for unregulated (no development) and...

The USGS monitors flood and high-flow conditions at more than 300 streamgages across Montana and Wyoming. Water level and flow information are used by the National Weather Service (NWS) to make accurate flood forecasts. High-flow conditions are expressed as percentiles comparing current (within the past few hours) instantaneous flow to historical daily mean flow for all days of the year.

The purpose of the crest-stage gage network is to inventory and monitor peak discharges throughout the state of Montana, with special emphasis on streams that may damage transportation infrastructure. Recorded data documenting peak streamflow at various sites within the state will be used by the Montana Department of Transportation to support assessments of culvert size, bridge construction, and...

Bridge scour is the erosion of streambed material away from pier foundations and abutments and is the leading cause of bridge failure in the United States (Richardson and Davis, 2001). Since the early 1990s, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) have had a cooperative bridge scour project in Montana.