WATERSHED PROJECT NEEDS 



Land and water areas in Montana's 672 watersheds comprise 93,679,263 

 acres in deliniated areas consisting of 250,000 acres or less. Each of 

 the delineated watersheds includes all the surface area of the drainage 

 basin regardless of ownership and becomes the base unit for land treat- 

 ment needed in solving soil and water problems. This acreage does not 

 represent all the land and water area in the State, since portions of 

 watersheds joining other states may have been excluded, particularly if 

 the majority of land in a given watershed lies outside the state. The 

 conservation measures and development needs of the soil and water re- 

 sources for a given watershed are major factors in the economic growth 

 of our State. 



The basic reference used for delineating the major and principal 

 drainage areas and sub-basins was the "Atlas of River Basins of the 

 United States" prepared by the Soil Conservation Service in 1963. Each 

 sub-basin was further sub-divided into watersheds of 250,000 acres or 

 less with the use of topographic maps prepared by the U. S, Geological 

 Survey, In 1954, the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act 

 PL-566 was enacted by Congress to provide local organization with 

 federal assistance in the development of feasible projects. PL-566 makes 

 it possible to plan and apply many conservation measures needed for flood 

 prevention, improved water management, recreation and other agricultural 

 related uses that cannot be planned and financed as efficiently under 

 other programs. As of June 1, 1970, there have been 57 applications 

 approved for planning in Montana out of 240 feasible watersheds. Con- 

 struction has been completed on four watersheds and is underway on four 

 others. 



FEASIBLE WATERSHEDS 



In the 240 feasible watersheds covering 33,239,271 acres (35 per- 

 cent) of the land and water area, there is a need for protection from 

 flood water and sediment damage to both agricultural and urban land. 

 There are 400,695 acres of agricultural land with a flood problem, of 

 which 189,021 acres (47 percent) need project action. Urban lands 

 having a flood problem comprise 7,890 acres with project action for 

 flood prevention needed on 6,938 acres (87 percent) . Erosion damage 

 from floodwaters occurs on 125,981 acres and there has been severe 

 damage *. o 2?, 4 74 acres which need project action. 



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