Water Use

The U.S. and Canada share water from the Milk River that is used to support agricultural irrigation, drinking water, recreation, and wildlife habitat. To help managers make more informed decisions about how to divide the water between the countries, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists used satellite images and a computer model. This model provides monthly and annual estimates of actual...

The Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center operates nearly 400 streamgages in Montana and Wyoming. Some streamgages are tucked away in high mountains or remote prairies, while some reside in locations visited by millions of people each year. Uses of data from these streamgages include managing water rights and diversion, informing recreationists, and monitoring flows for fisheries and wildlife...

This streamgage on the Snake River was installed in 1904 and is one of the first streamgages established in Wyoming. Information from this site is used to make decisions on how irrigation water is delivered downstream, as well as monitor conditions for fisheries and recreational activities all year long.

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...

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...

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...

Lake Koocanusa (Koocanusa Reservoir) is a transboundary reservoir located in southeastern British Columbia and northwestern Montana.

The Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center (WY-MT WSC) is currently (2019-2020) developing field and data management methods to collect and manage field-verified spatial datasets of irrigated lands in an effort to improve estimates of irrigation water use throughout the nation. The USGS is currently (2019) working with the University of Wisconsin to develop datasets to describe the spatial extent of...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled estimates of water use in Wyoming and the rest of the United States at 5-year intervals since 1950.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled estimates of water use in Montana and the rest of the United States at 5-year intervals since 1950.

Project Period: 2016-ongoing Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program Project Chiefs: Ryan McShane and Jeremy McDowell