Bitterroot Valley

Montana

Water quantity and quality issues

Bitterroot valley “impaired stream”

*buildup of sediments released by erosion

*road construction

*forest fires

*logging

*falling water levels in ditches and streams due to use for irrigation

• Watersheds eroded or at risk200 pounds of fertilizer for each acre of land

not sure how much ends up in the river

waste nutrients from septic tanks

toxic minerals draining out of mines

most serious water quality problem

not occurring in the Bitterroot

Increasing People/Decreasing Water

• Two largely separate water supplies– Irrigation from ditches fed by mountain

streams, lakes or the Bitterroot River and water fields for agriculture

– Wells drilled into underground aquifers

Larger towns have municipal water supplies

While more rural houses have private wells

Climate Change

• Montana is becoming warmer and drier• Most noticeable in Glacier National Forest

– Will need to change it’s name around 2030– 150 glaciers in 1800’s– Down to 35 now– Small fraction of their original size– Bad because rainfall was barely adequate for

agriculture before

Way Of Life

• Very Right-wing conservative state– Especially true in the BitterrootMontana being so vast and secluded from

government that they don’t trust the governmentHardly any regulations on land use or zoning

practicesThe people want the right to use their private land

however they want toCurrently, the capacity for the land to support it’s

owners is diminishing while population continues to grow and grow

Old Timers / Newcomers

• Traditional old-timer Montana men being replaced by new generation of fast food and HBO non-laborers– Farm owners concerned that their children

will not continue to run the farm but find jobs behind a computer instead

Land Prices

• Land’s ability to support it’s owner– Very difficult to run a farm in Montana and make a

decent living without multiple jobs• Farm costs bigger than profits

– Newcomers (retirees) are paying the higher land prices because they want to live there and are not concerned about profiting off of the land

– Land use shift from profit making to fun– Californians can sell their house for a lot in Cali

and live comfortably off of it for awhile in Montana

What’s Next?

• Opposing views– Conservative hard workers - fun loving

retirees

A Compromise will have to be reached and some sort of regulation and zoning will be needed to help Montana transition into it’s new phase, whatever that may be

Leave farming to the Nebraskans?!?