From our friends at Mnatana Waterkeepers:

"While it doesn't sound nice, being "impaired" represents a positive moment for the Gallatin and the beginning of a transparent, science-driven process for restoring this waterway's health, grounded in law.

In June 2022, DEQ made a preliminary finding that the middle segment Gallatin River merits a Category 5 impairment designation as the river's designated uses (recreation, aquatic life) have been degraded due to nuisance-level algal blooms stretching bank to bank for miles downstream. The determination comes in response to our petition, submitted alongside conservation partners in March 2022, requesting the department act on water quality monitoring and our precedent-setting drone documentation of algal blooms to determine the middle segment of the Gallatin 'impaired' and needing a clean-up plan.

Miles-long neon-green algal blooms are most commonly triggered by nutrient pollution, which acts as a fertilizer contributing to nuisance aquatic vegetation. In the middle segment Gallatin, primary unnatural sources of nutrients are sprawl development and wastewater disposal in Big Sky and the Gallatin Canyon. Waterkeeper has documented these algal blooms and degraded water quality and aquatic habitat in the Gallatin River every summer since 2018.

This April's formal impairment designation under the federal CWA prompts the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), a science-based, proven and effective planning tool used to identify pollution sources, and prevent, reduce, or clean up excess pollution, all towards restoring the health of a waterway.

An impairment designation means that, pending creation of a pollution diet for the Gallatin, our state agencies must stop authorizing new discharges of nutrient pollution to the river system, like it just did for the Quarry development project last month. Doing so is not only well-established in EPA's regulations, but is also common-sense as we don't want to worsen a problem before we develop and implement solutions.

For more background on the Gallatin impairment designation, click here.

The ball is now in the EPA's court to approve the impairment designation so we can finally get to cleaning up the Gallatin River."

Upper Missouri Waterkeeper is a conservation non-profit entity based in Bozeman that actively works to protect water quality across a variety of Montana watersheds. We have been supporting their efforts through financial contributions for several years and strongly endorse the organization as advocates for the watersheds and fisheries throughout the region. Please take a few minutes to learn more about Upper Missouri Waterkeeper and ways that you can be involved and help them to continue as effective, on the ground advocates for our Montana watersheds.