Streamflow and Groundwater Availability

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative is a long-term science-based effort to assess and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats at a landscape scale in southwest Wyoming, while facilitating responsible development through local collaboration and partnerships. The WLCI is an interagency working group of partners that is beginning the process of establishing a much larger coalition of...

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...

The Blacks Fork is a stream that contributes a salinity load to the Colorado River Basin. In order to quantify the salinity load, collection of continuous streamflow and specific conductance data, and monthly sampling for total-dissolved solids will occur from April 2018 through September 2019. Calculations of monthly and annual salinity loading from the Blacks Fork were published in 2021.

Flow in small mountain and plains streams is dependent on many factors such as precipitation, groundwater inflow, topography, and geology.

Real-time groundwater streamgages are created at existing streamgages by adding streambank wells (piezometers) to expand the understanding of groundwater/surface-water interaction. The object of this project is to: Identify interactions between the stream and near-surface groundwater Evaluate data to determine annual patterns and changes over time

Riparian and aquatic ecosystems in semiarid landscapes like Southwest Wyoming contribute substantially to regional biodiversity. Long-term monitoring data that describe streamflow, surface-water quality, and groundwater levels are needed for assessing possible effects of changes in land use on those ecosystems.

The Blackfeet Nation seeks an enhanced scientific understanding of the water resources within the Blackfeet Reservation in northwestern Montana. Hydrologic information is important for making informed water management decisions as the Blackfeet Nation progresses with implementation of the Blackfeet Water Rights Compact, initiates new water-use projects, and improves the Blackfeet Irrigation...

The USGS monitors stream water quality in Wyoming and Montana in cooperation with State, County, local, and other Federal agencies. Water-quality data for these sites are available from the USGS National Water Information System Web Mapper application in the form of an interactive map that can be accessed from the Data and Tools tab.

The Flaxville aquifer is present in the northern and central parts of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and consists of sand and gravel that forms extensive plateaus and topographic benches used for dryland farming. Because many residents rely on groundwater as their primary water supply on the Reservation, the Flaxville and underlying aquifers are important sources of groundwater. The goal of this...

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.

Brine Contamination to Plains and Potholes Environments from Energy Development in the Williston Basin

StreamStats is a digital, map-based tool designed to provide information about streamflow and the upstream watershed of any selected point on a stream. The tool can assist in water resources planning and management and support engineering and design projects. StreamStats is available in both Montana and Wyoming.