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Bridging-the-Headgate in Montana
Reclamation in Montana
The State of Montana is served by two Reclamation Area Offices. That part of the state lying east of the continental divide is served by the Montana Area Office, headquartered in Billings, Montana. The portion of the state west of the divide is served by the Upper Columbia Area Office in Yakima, Washington (see map, and table of contacts below). Reclamation's Great Plains Regional Office is located in Billings, Montana.
Montana Area Office, Billings, Montana
In Montana, through a cooperative agreement with the Phillips Conservation District, Reclamation's Montana Area Office is supporting an irrigation water management demonstration program within Reclamation's Milk River Project. The program consists of utilizing Reclamation's AgriMet weather network (see below) to work with individual producers to schedule irrigation applications. The NRCS contributes to the program through donation of office space, technical support, and the use of computers and vehicles.
Sun River Watershed Group
Through an agreement with the Cascade, Lewis & Clark, and Teton Conservation Districts, the NRCS, and other interested parties, Reclamation is participating as a member of the Sun River Watershed Group (SRWG), a local coalition working to address a wide range of watershed issues affecting water quantity and quality. The watershed has recently received designation as an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) priority area. To date, the SRWG has successfully coordinated efforts to reduce erosion within the Muddy Creek drainage, and has acquired grants to address local canal seepage, water measurement, weed control, and riparian management problems. The SRWG recently received an award for its efforts from the Montana Watershed Coordination Council and was selected as one of eleven national "Showcase Watersheds" under the Clean Water Action Plan.
AgriMet in Montana
AgriMet is a network of automated agricultural weather stations operated by Reclamation. Sixty-six weather stations in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, and California collect and transmit weather data required to model agricultural crop water use. Such information is used to support scientific irrigation scheduling and other programs designed to improve the efficiency of agricultural water use. In Montana, thirteen AgriMet weather stations provide daily estimates of crop consumptive use in support of the Broadwater Conservation District's "Scientific Irrigation Scheduling Project" in western Montana.
AgriMet information for Montana is available here.
