Lower Big Hole River, Beaverhead and Madison Counties

Background

The Big Hole River is a blue-ribbon trout fishery and an important water resource for the Glen area agricultural economy. Low river flows are detrimental for both agriculture and the fishery, decreasing the amount of water available for irrigation. Coupled with high water temperatures, low flows may trigger partial or full river fishing closure by wildlife management officials.

In response to these challenges, changes to irrigation practice and/or improvements to conveyance and diversion infrastructure have occurred or may be planned with the goal of using water more efficiently. However, these changes may alter aquifer recharge and affect interaction between groundwater and the Big Hole River.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to utilize a combination of monitoring data and modeling to develop a water budget for the Glen area. This water budget and associated data will be used to estimate potential changes in temperature and quantity of the surface and groundwater resources associated with irrigation conversions and other irrigation infrastructure improvements/changes. Information from this project will be used to inform planning of irrigation infrastructure improvements/changes.

Project Scope

Objectives of this project include:

1) develop an updated conceptual hydrogeologic model,

2) develop a current baseline water budget for the Glen area,

3) characterize temperature variations in groundwater and surface waters,

4) construct models for prospective modeling scenarios.

Project Status

Field data collection concluded in November 2024. Data interpretation, report writing, and model development are currently underway.

Project Reports

• Information Pamphlet – Groundwater inputs to rivers and streams: Using temperature and visual cues on the Big Hole River, southwestern Montana (Dohman, J.M, and Hanson, A.E.H., 2024)
  View Report
• Lower Big Hole Fact Sheet: August 2022
  View Report

Project Personnel

Mary Sutherland	Team Leader, Associate Research Hydrogeologist
Jenna Dohman	Assistant Research Hydrogeologist
Ann Hanson	Assistant Research Hydrogeologist
Todd Myse	Research Hydrogeologist
Tyler Storey	Research Scientist
Cole Denver	Professional Scientist, Research Hydrogeologist

Presentations

• An Update on the Lower Big Hole Groundwater Investigation. Presentation at the Big Hole Watershed Committee Monthly Meeting, June 19, 2024.
  View Presentation
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Link to Project Data

Data collected for this project can be accessed through the Ground Water Information Center (GWIC) database:

Download project data from GWIC

Content last updated: 11/15/2022 12:57:45 PM