Chapter 8: Partners Protecting the Gallatin

Forging a Conservation Partnership

Protecting the Gallatin’s water resources requires the interest of local citizens most affected by impacts on water quality and quantity and also beneficial governmental approaches to identifying and solving problems as they arise. The first soil and water conservation district in the Gallatin was formed in 1949. Soon after, the district requested that a Soil Conservation Service (now known as the Natural Resource Conservation Service-NRCS) office be opened and staffed to provide local landowners with technical assistance regarding soil and water erosion. Today the Gallatin Conservation District encompasses all portions of Gallatin County within the Gallatin Watershed, except for the 1949 city limits of Belgrade and Bozeman.

The Gallatin Conservation District is a unit of state government, dedicated to the wise use and protection of Gallatin County’s soil and water resources. The Conservation District Board consists of five locally elected supervisors that volunteer their time to attend monthly meetings concerning local resource issues. The bulk of the district board’s work is spent on administration of the Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act (S.B. 310). The district accepts applications and issues permits (“310” permits) for activities below the normal high-water marks of streams and rivers in Gallatin County. The purpose of the permit is to minimize soil erosion and sedimentation, protect and preserve streams and rivers in their natural or existing state, and prevent damage to the lands

The district teams up with the NRCS to provide technical assistance to private landowners to help solve natural resource problems. Together the cooperating agencies set goals, review requests for assistance, and coordinate with other resource agencies to implement programs and address problems. The district also sponsors conservation mini-grants for water quality, education activities, reclamation projects, energy saving and erosion repairs. In addition, it publishes a monthly newsletter with the Cooperative Extension Service and Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Disturbance of any area near water may require special permits.

Case Study: Godfrey Creek

Godfrey Creek is a small stream in the western Gallatin Watershed in an area known as “Holstein Alley” for its numerous dairy farms. Once a source of clean water for the farms along its banks, by the mid-1980s Godfrey Creek’s levels of fecal coliform (a bacteria found in animal waste), sediment, nitrogen and phosphorous exceeded state water quality levels. Most of the degradation was the result of livestock confinement practices and runoff from confinement areas and irrigation return flows. In 1990, 17 of the 27 farm operations along the creek joined with a number of federal and state agencies, including the USDA Consolidated Farm Service Agency, the NRCS, Gallatin Conservation District, MSU Extension Service, MDEQ, DNRC and the EPA to address water quality on the creek.

Producers participated in implementing best management practices to reduce non-point pollution. These practices include moving livestock watering facilities away from the creek, instituting better manure management, providing vegetative buffers between fields and corrals and the creek, and fencing. The changes were facilitated by a 75 percent cost share grant to the producers. Because the degradation of water quality in Godfrey Creek occurred over a period of many years, it will take time to restore the creek to its former quality. However, participants in the project have seen dramatic improvements. They believe they are benefiting not only the creek, but also the management of their farms. Godfrey Creek stands as an example of how groups of affected citizens can make use of community resources to successfully resolve local water quality problems.

310 Permit Applications

Stream modification projects continue to grow.
Source: Gallatin Conservation District.

Text description of 310 permit applications in Gallatin County. Includes a larger image of the chart.

Information

Gallatin Conservation District
(406) 587-6929

MSU Extension Service - Improving Water Quality at Godfrey Creek, video
(406) 994-3273

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