Musselshell Salinity Monitoring Program
Administering Entity: Musselshell Watershed Coalition (MWC)
Entity Type(s): Watershed Groups
Water Resource: Rivers, Streams
Primary Data Type(s): Water Chemistry
Primary Watershed Monitoring Objective(s): Baseline, Education and Outreach, Problem identification, Project Identification, Trends
Subbasins: Box Elder, Flatwillow, Lower Musselshell, Middle Musselshell, Upper Mussleshell
Aquatic Invasive Species Type:
Counties: Garfield, Golden Valley, Musselshell, Petroleum, Rosebud, Wheatland
Volunteers: yes
Contact Name: Allison Martin
Summary of Monitoring Objectives:
The Musselshell River runs for 340 miles through central Montana and supplies irrigation water to over 250 farms and ranches. At times, salinity can occasionally hinder sufficient irrigation water quality. The MWC salinity monitoring project is a local volunteer effort that started in 2013 to monitor long-term electrical conductivity conditions along the mainstem of the Musselshell River and major tributaries. The study focuses on salts in irrigation water where data is paired with flow measurements to establish relationships between river flows and salinity. The statistical relationships established through this monitoring project will in turn be used to inform best irrigation practices for the water users throughout the Musselshell Valley.
