36 



FUTURE PLANS 



The widespread occurrence and rapid growth of saline seeps 

 have now been recognized as one of the most serious conservation 

 problems in the Northern Great Plains. The funds received from the 

 Office of Water Research and Technology for this project were instru- 

 nnental in providing "seed" money to initiate an active research program 

 to study this problem. 



Throughout the project there has been very close cooperation 

 between the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Montana State 

 University, Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, Montana Exten- 

 sion Service, Montana Environmental Quality Council, United States 

 Agricultural Research Service, United States Soil Conservation Service, 

 United States Geological Survey, United States Environmental Protection 

 Agency, and local farming organizations. The principal investigator 

 has been responsible for the hydrogeological aspects of the problem. 

 The results and information gathered during the project have been used 

 by all the other organizations. 



A new project partially supported by the Office of Water 

 Research and Technology funds has been initiated to examine the 

 regional development of saline seeps. This will be a cooperative 

 venture with the aforementioned organizations and much of the data 

 gathered for this study will be used in these future studies. 



