Our Work

Filter

Blackfoot

Sub-Basin

What We Do

Challenge

Stakeholder

Status

Mike Horse Mine Cleanup

In the 1940s, miners used metals-laced tailings to build the Mike Horse Dam at the origins of the Blackfoot River on Beartrap Creek near the Continental Divide. In 1975, the tailings dam blew out, dumping deadly levels of lead, copper and zinc into the Blackfoot. The mine’s corporate owner, ASARCO, rebuilt…
Exempt Wells Loophole

In 1973, the Montana Legislature passed the Water Use Act, which created a process for permitting new water rights. To reduce permitting burdens on small, individual users, it exempted groundwater use for “domestic, agricultural, or livestock purposes.” This meant applicants did not have to prove that the water was physically…
Stonewall Creek

We permanently acquired 5 cfs of water rights that reconnect Stonewall Creek to the Blackfoot River year round. The creek supports native westslope cutthroat and brown trout.
Keep Cool Creek

We permanently acquired 5 cfs of water rights that reconnect Keep Cool Creek to the Blackfoot River year round.
Poorman Creek

We permanently acquired 18 cfs of water rights that reconnect Poorman Creek to the Blackfoot River year round.