Water Quality
Water Quality
The Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center collects water-quality data and conducts research on rivers, lakes, wetlands, and groundwater. This work informs our understanding of regional water-quality conditions and the ability of those resources to support human and ecological needs.
Filter Total Items: 35
Site Assessment and Monitoring of Constructed Wetlands in Montana
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) occasionally causes disturbance to wetlands during construction. To comply with Federal, State, and Tribal regulations, MDT creates replacement wetlands to compensate for wetland loss. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collaborates with MDT to assess potential wetland replacement sites and monitor water conditions at established replacement sites...
Monitoring Changes in Groundwater Quality at Jackson Hole Airport
USGS studies revealed that aircraft deicing fluids from Jackson Hole Airport negatively affected the water quality of the Snake River aquifer in northwestern Wyoming (Wright, 2013). In response, the airport implemented improved deicing management and infrastructure. A recent USGS study determined that the airport’s changes likely contributed to improvements in aquifer groundwater quality (Wright...
Milk River and Missouri River Continuous Water-Quality Monitoring
The Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, in collaboration with the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System (ASRWSS), is monitoring water quality on a seasonal basis at three U.S. Geological Survey streamgages along the Milk River and Missouri River.
Evidence of selenium transport from Elk River Valley, Canada to the Columbia River
Selenium is an essential nutrient with a narrow gap between enough for life and too much for life. Mining operations have been linked to releasing selenium into rivers and streams, where it can accumulate in aquatic ecosystems and disrupt the development of egg-laying organisms like fish and birds. Recent research shows that selenium travels farther from the Elk River Valley than previously...
Water-Quality and Fish Tissue Data from Boneau and Williamson Reservoirs, Chippewa Cree Tribe Rocky Boy's Reservation, Box Elder, Montana, May - September 2022
Water and fish tissue were sampled in Boneau and Williamson reservoirs, Rocky Boy's Reservation, near Box Elder, Montana. The sampling was part of a program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sampling was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Chippewa Cree Tribe, to characterize background water quality and mercury in fish tissue within the tribal lands.
Growth of coal mining operations in the Elk River Valley linked to increasing transport of selenium, nitrate, and sulfate into Lake Koocanusa
Lake Koocanusa (also called Koocanusa Reservoir) is a transboundary reservoir that's located in northwestern Montana and southwestern British Columbia, Canada (BC) and encompasses the headwaters of the Kootenai watershed, eventually flowing into the Columbia River. Coal mining has occurred in the Elk River watershed in British Columbia, Canada for more than 100 years. Concentrations of different...
Wyoming StreamStats
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. In Wyoming, the current capabilities of the application are basin delineations and basin-characteristics.
Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring in the Vermilion River
The Vermilion River is a major tributary to the Lower Clark Fork River in the northwest corner of Montana and is designated as critical habitat for migratory bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Historic placer, hydraulic, and dredge mining and large-scale clearcutting (via commercial forestry) in the upper portion of the Vermilion River drainage have degraded the river habitat, increased the...
Wildfires and Water Quality in Montana
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...
Developing CE-QUAL-W2 Models of the Kootenai River and Koocanusa Reservoir, Montana and Idaho
The construction and operation of Libby Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project located in northwestern Montana, has altered the natural hydrograph, thermal regime, sediment transport, and nutrient loadings on the Kootenai River. Dam operation impacts riverine ecosystem function and many fish species, including the federally endangered Kootenai River White Sturgeon and federally...
History of Water-Quality Sampling the the Lake Koocanusa Basin
Since 1984, Canadian agencies have collected samples to measure selenium concentrations in the Elk River measured at the monitoring station (site BC08NK0003) (British Columbia Ministry of Forests Lands Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, 2022) which is 2.2 miles above its discharge into Lake Koocanusa. Detections of selenium from this site have ranged from below detection to greater...
Hydrology of Lake Koocanusa
Lake Koocanusa (Koocanusa Reservoir) is a transboundary reservoir located in southeastern British Columbia and northwestern Montana.