How Much Is Enough: As Bozeman, Gallatin Valley And Big Sky Boom, What Is The Future Of Water?
Water shapes all our lives and it is the topic of free Bozeman Public Library SymBozium event. You're invited to listen to virtual discussion and ask questions
The East Gallatin flows near the old Story Mill at the edge of Bozeman. From both population growth and climate change, will Bozeman have enough water to meet human needs in coming decades? Photo courtesy Jon Catton
By Mountain Journal
Water. The most precious medium often taken for granted.
Consider it from three different vantages.
Globally, there would be little or no life, no blue Earth as we know and enjoy it today, no us, without it.
Nationally: the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, wellspring of the West, is the headwaters—the original source of three of the mightiest and most important river systems in America: the Snake-Columbia; Green Colorado; and the Yellowstone-Madison-Gallatin-Jefferson rivers fueling the Missouri. Many tens of millions, 1500 miles downstream or more, have a connection to our region, some probably astounded that the water they drink could have touched an elk’s mouth or a grizzly paw not far from our backyards.
Locally: water is, of course, the foundation—the lifeblood— of everything in southwest Montana, northwest Wyoming and eastern Idaho: How we sustain our bodies and green plants on the porch, our incredible wildlife and fish ecosystems, the ag economy, the tourism economy, the value of real estate, and water too may be the limiting factor determining how fast, or how much the Bozeman/Gallatin Valley continues to grow.
Bozeman, fastest-growing micropolitan city in America, relies on snowpack for its water supply. How might climate change affect abundance and availability of water, particularly during dry, hot months? How many residents know where the water originates that comes out at the tap?
Click on poster, above, to make larger and clearer
On average, Bozeman receives (just) 16 inches of precipitation annually which leaves the Gallatin Valley classified as “semi-arid and drought prone.” Already, Bozeman is right at the point where its current water supply and delivery system is at capacity and could be facing shortages within the next 20 years if Bozeman/Gallatin Valley double in population. How will it be remedied? More drawing from underground aquifers? More dams built on streams rimming the Gallatin Valley? How will it work. Most of our water comes from the Gallatin Mountains south of town, with Hyalite Reservoir being one source and smaller streams being the other. About 20 percent comes off the Bridgers.
Next week on Tuesday at 7 pm, the Bozeman Public Library, through its SymBozium series, is hosting a virtual public discussion about the present and forward-looking status of water. Todd Wilkinson of Mountain Journal will serve as moderator and panelists will field questions from a remote viewer audience.
The event is provocatively titled Water In the West: Whose Right Is It? Balancing Montana's Heritage Water Rights and Practices with the Needs of a Growing Population
Krista Lee Evans will represent the agricultural perspective, Dr. Wyatt Cross of Montana State University's Water Center will bring ecological thinking to the table, and Dr. P.J. Hill, emeritus professor of economics from Wheaton College and senior fellow at the Property & Environment Research Center in Bozeman will talk about water as a property right and commodity.
The virtual event is free and easy to access from any electronic communications device (laptop, iPad or cell phone). Registration is required. To sign up, listen in or submit a question, click here and you’ll receive a link to the virtual forum.
Recently, Mountain Journal interviewed Janay Johnson, director of the Bozeman Public Library Foundation, who is one of the producers of the SymBozium series.
An irrigation ditch carries water from the mainstem of the Gallatin River west of Four Corners. What's the future for water for Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley as land use shifts from traditional agriculture to slaking the thirst of rapidly expanding suburbs? Further, if water becomes ever-more scarce, what are the implications for fish and wildlife? Photo courtesy Jon Catton
MOUNTAIN JOURNAL: You could have selected any topic but you zeroed in, literally, on an elemental one: water. Why?
JANAY JOHNSON: Because it is so elemental. We can’t live without it, yet we’re reaching a critical point in this valley and many other places in the West where there isn’t going to be enough of it to go around. There will inevitably be conflict over which uses and areas will take precedence. Of course, layered on top of that is the byzantine system that governs water rights. The goal of SymBozium is to take a hard look at these big, thorny issues that have no obvious perfect solution. It seems these days everyone wants to pick a side, decide who’s right and who’s wrong. There are lots of issues like the dwindling supply of fresh water that don’t have right or wrong answers. We aim for a return to civil discourse, where people listen with open hearts and curious minds to viewpoints that might differ from their own.
MOJO: Tell us about the panelists and how they came on your radar screen. It's a diverse group.
JOHNSON: We always try to assemble a diverse group of panelists for SymBozium. We really want people who are coming at the topic from different perspectives. We limit ourselves to three panelists and honestly it was hard to narrow it down for this topic, which has so many stakeholders. Ultimately, it made sense to have an ecologist, who could bring scientific facts about the trajectory of our water supply. In Dr. Wyatt Cross, we got the guy who literally wrote the water chapter in the Montana Climate Assessment.
We also knew we wanted the agricultural community represented as the most historic users of water in the Gallatin Valley and probably the user group that’s most impacted by development pressures. Krista Evans brings an encyclopedic knowledge of water rights to the discussion. I learned so much from talking with her. I think most people have no idea how water rights work or how things they do in their own subdivision or little stretch of creek bank can affect things downstream for the people growing our food.
Dr. P.J. Hill brings an interesting and perhaps unexpected perspective as a scholar of environmental economics who has researched some possible market solutions to the water scarcity issue. P.J. also brings the perspective of a rancher, having been raised on a cattle ranch in eastern Montana that he operated for many years.
A crew plants willow along the banks of the East Gallatin River to stabilize banks, reduce erosion and water turbidity, provide shade that cools the water and benefits fish in summer and becomes a magnet for wildlife. Photo courtesy Jon Catton
MOJO: The Bozeman Public Library and its location near downtown, has long been a social hub and many regard it as one of the pillars of our community. How has covid changed the way the public interacts with the library? JOHNSON: We’ve been able to evolve the ways we’re getting information and entertainment to our patrons. Immediately after we had to shut down we expanded access to electronic resources like movies, e-books and services like Lynda.com (a wealth of professional tutorials) and Creative Bug (a source for classes on all things artsy). To assist students we’ve added tutor.com so they can schedule live online sessions with professional teachers to get help on any subject from biology to calculus. We also started doing a lot of programs online, and when the weather got nice, outside. Social interactions have largely been relegated to Zoom, and the Library is no exception to that, but we do try to get people to connect with each other through things like online book clubs. We’re happy to be open 6 days a week again, but we are not holding meetings or programs, nor are people allowed to sit and hang out in the Library. We are looking forward to the day when the community can again fully and safely enjoy this wonderful public space. MOJO: Over the years, you've been among a group of thought leaders who are part of a national discussion about how libraries are about more than books. Could you elaborate a little on the role public libraries play in the 21st century? How would you describe the traditional notion of a library and directionally where is it evolving?
The Bozeman Public Library continues to evolve and remain a social center as Bozeman grows
JOHNSON: Andrew Carnegie, the philanthropist who built thousands of libraries across the country in the late 1800s and early 1900s, including Bozeman’s first, called libraries “palaces for the people.” I think that’s such a beautiful notion, that libraries are the place where these vast riches are equally available to everyone, regardless of their station in life. Libraries still play this role of a great equalizer in a community. It’s a beautiful public space, where you don’t have to spend money to enjoy all it has to offer. I do think the purpose of libraries has evolved over the years. Initially, libraries were primarily repositories of knowledge in the form of books. They were quiet, reverent places. Now libraries offer so much more than books.
MOJO: How so?
JOHNSON: You can look at art, hear live music, learn how to sew, read to a dog, take a computer class, and so much more. The Bozeman Library’s vision is to be the community cultural center that connects our citizens to their neighbors and the world. So much of what we do is about creating opportunities for people to build community. Another absolutely critical role libraries are playing these days is bridging the digital gap by providing internet and computer access to people who don’t have it at home. The internet is a necessity in these times, as critical as electricity and running water. In addition to providing these things in the building, many libraries including ours are offering mobile internet hotspots and devices like laptops and iPads for checkout. It’s a new way we can level the playing field, providing equal access to these crucial tools for modern life.
MOJO: Just want to say that if people want to support the library and its programs, they can go to bozemanlibraryfoundation.org. But back to the SymBozium on water. I know you’d like to see some of the dynamic group of young people take part, too. Again, how can people sign up?
JOHNSON: Here is the link. It’s free and open to everyone. When you register for free, you'll receive the link to our virtual forum.
