SALINE SEEP IN MONTANA 



By: Robert Anderson, Chairman 



Governor's Emergency Committee 

 on Saline Seep 



Saline seep has been recognized as the number one conservation 

 problem in our state. The last legislature passed a resolution 

 calling attention to this increasingly large phenomena. What is 

 saline seep? What causes it? How much do we have and is it 

 spreading? What can be done about the problem and what are we 

 doing? All these questions need to be answered. My information 

 will be related in laymen's terms and should brief you on the 

 current situation. 



A saline seep is a wet saline area, very small to several acres in 

 size, but averaging 3 to 5 acres. It is recognized by its general 

 white appearance and absence of vegetative growth. In the develop- 

 ing stage the area will remain green longer than the surrounding 

 area, and a tractor operator venturing into a seep will find him- 

 self suddenly and decisively stuck while the surrounding ground is 

 relatively dry. Saline seep appears in irrigated and dryland crop- 

 land, and rangeiand, both in high and low rainfall belts, and each 

 seep has its own geological characteristics. One common criteria 

 exists in all as the predominant cause: Moisture is deposited on 

 the land in quantities greater than what is necessary to saturate 

 the root zone of existing vegetation. This moisture follows a 

 path of least resistance, in this case moving horizontally and 

 eventually surfacing to evaporate leaving the dissolved salts 

 picked up in the below surface movements. 



A survey of Montana in 1969 indicated 80,000 acres of seep. Recent 

 estimates push this figure up to at least 150,000 acres. North 

 Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming ajid Canada have the problem. The 

 present level of strip mining in Montana disturbs about 200 acres 

 per year. Researchers generally agree that properly done, this 

 land can be restored to production. Saline seep is spreading to 

 5,000 to 8,000 new acres per year in Montana alone, and if it can 

 ever be reclaimed in dryland conditions it will be a very slow 

 process. 



Limited research in saline seep was initiated in 1969 at Highwood, 

 Sidney and Mandan, North Dakota. This research covers underground 

 investigations and procedures to aid in early detection. Cropping 

 techniques that will use the water where it falls are being tried. 

 We are talking about moisture management. We do not have the 

 answers yet. More research is needed. 



The Governor's Emergency Committee on Saline Seep is charged with 

 coordinating efforts to reach solutions to this problem. We are 

 functioning and I am sure we will be able to contribute siabstan- 

 tially to future saline seep efforts. 



