Gallatin River Task Force Community Water Quality Monitoring Program
Administering Entity: Gallatin River Task Force (GRTF)
Entity Type(s): NGO, Watershed Groups
Water Resource: Rivers, Streams
Primary Data Type(s): Discharge, Groundwater Level, Habitat-Instream, Instream Physical, Water Chemistry
Primary Watershed Monitoring Objective(s): Baseline, Education and Outreach, Long Term Fixed Station, Pollution Source Assessment, Problem identification, Restoration Project Effectiveness, Streamgage, Trends, WQ Standards Attainment
Subbasins: Gallatin
Aquatic Invasive Species Type:
Counties: Gallatin
Volunteers: yes
Contact Name: Kristin Gardner
Summary of Monitoring Objectives:
<span style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif;">The Gallatin River Task Force Community Water Quality Monitoring Program has collected routine watershed and aquatic insect data on the Upper Gallatin River and its tributaries since 2000. Since 2018, the Task Force has partnered with the Montana DEQ to help identify drivers of nuisance algae growth on the Upper Gallatin. In 2023, this segment of the river was listed as impaired, increasing the sampling intensity per the DEQ's TMDL process. Currently, the Gallatin River Task Force is monitoring 11 sites along 9 tributaries. As a part of this the Task Force is collecting chemical and biological water quality data throughout the summer and winter. The goals of the program are to:</span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif;">To record baseline data to assess for trends and episodic events</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif;">To assess the successes/failures of restoration projects on impaired streams</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif;">To determine contributing factors to algal blooms</span></li>
</ul>
