were educated on the benefits of easements they 

 could be instrumental in clearing up misconcep- 

 tions other landowners may have. 



B) To provide recreational access the CDD 

 will encourage the Department of Fish, Wildlife, 

 and Parks (DFWP), USDA Forest Service, and the 

 Bureau of Land Managment to enter into 

 cooperative agreements with landowners in ex- 

 change for their services according to the terms of 

 the agreement. See Part B, Objective 40 of the 

 Work Plan. 



Rationale: Public access to recreation sites is 

 needed and these agreements will give incentives 

 to landowners to provide access sites. 



C) To promote greater involvement of 

 private recreation enterprises in DFWP's statewide 

 comprehensive outdoor recreation planning the 

 CDD, with the cooperation and assistance of SCS 

 and the Montana Association of Conservation 

 Districts, will provide DFWP with information on 

 outdoor recreation activities offered by private 

 enterprise. See Part B, Objective 41 of the Work 

 Plan. 



Rationale: Outdoor recreation is a land and 

 water use, and inasmuch as conservation districts 

 serve private enterprise in soil and water conserva- 

 tion, this will be an attempt at coordinating recrea- 

 tion activity use. 



WATER QUALITY 



Situation 



Under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

 Amendments of 1972, PL92-500, Section 208, Montana's 

 governor designated the Montana Department of Health 

 and Environmental Sciences, Water Quality Bureau, as 

 the responsible water quality planning agency for the 

 state. As a result, the Water Quality Bureau's Statewide 

 Water Quality Management Plan has been adopted by the 

 State of Montana. CDs have agreed with the Department 

 of Health and Environmental Sciences to be the local 

 management agencies for water quality improvement pro- 

 grams. The CDs havp also adopted water quality manage- 

 ment plans for their districts. 



Although intensive management in the recent past 

 has nearly alleviated point source pollution there are still 

 some localized point source water quality problems in the 

 state. Cities and towns cause most of this remaining point 

 source pollution, but the state's programs for wastewater 

 discharge permits and construction grants should virtually 

 eliminate any remaining problems. 



The most significant water quality problems originate 

 from nonpoint sources such as irrigation dewatering and 

 return flows, saline seep, and sediment from agriculture, 

 urban and stormwater runoff, logging, and mining (DHES 

 1979) (note: these sources are not listed in order of their 

 severity). 



The extent of Montana's water quality problems has 

 been documented by the Conservation Districts in An 

 Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Management 

 Plan for the Statewide Water Quality Management Plan. 

 This report covers all of Montana except for the 1 3 coun- 

 ties in 208 Areawide Planning Organizations (DHES 1979). 



Irrigation can severely reduce stream flows, as it has in 

 tributaries to the Beaverhead, Bitterroot, West Gallatin, 

 Big Hole, Jefferson, and other rivers. The CD inventory 

 identified 873 miles of streams with severe annual irriga- 

 tion dewatering. Excessive water withdrawals cause a 

 reduction in fisheries potential due to loss of aquatic 

 habitat, elevated temperatures, depressed dissolved ox- 

 ygen levels, increased dissolved substances, algae 

 blooms, and salinity increases. Drinking water, water 

 sports, irrigation, and industrial uses are impaired by such 

 decreases in water quality. In addition irrigation return 

 flows bring added problems. Each new acre of irrigated 

 land can contribute as much as Vi to 2 tons of salt to 

 streams each year. Salinity has already reached high levels 

 on the Musselshell, Teton, Lower Yellowstone, Milk, and 

 other river basin drainages (DHES 1979). Saline seep af- 

 fects both surface and underground water; however, the 

 extent of damage to water quality is not fully documented 

 because no detailed saline seep records have been kept 

 (see Saline Seep section). Excessive sediment is still the 

 most common water quality problem in Montana (DHES 

 1979). (see Soil Erosion section) 



Natural geological processes release sediment, but 

 human activities hasten its production and magnify its ef- 

 fects. The CD inventory indicated that 3,700,000 acres of 

 dry cropland, 4,900,000 acres of rangeland and pasture, 

 and 144,000 acres of irrigated cropland are being eroded 

 by wind and water because of poor grazing or tillage prac- 

 tices. Furthermore, the inventory identified 1,108 miles 

 of streambank that are being eroded. Urban stormwater 

 runoff and construction activities discharge nutrients, 

 minerals, heavy metals, oil and grease, and sediment to 

 surface waters. Logging and its accompanying activities 



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