2018 Newsletter Each year, the Montana Section of the American Water Resources Association (Montana AWRA) holds their annual meeting to encourage water managers, academics, consultants, students, and others to share experiences, research, and concerns. If you work in water resource management, protection, or are simply interested in “all things water” in Montana, please join us! Montana AWRA 2018 Conference: Collaborative Science Emilie Erich Hoffman, President Hello! We are excited to host this year’s annual AWRA conference in West Yellowstone, MT on October 17-19, 2018. To register for the conference, please visit: https://www.montanaawra.org/events/registration-for-the-2018-annual-montana- awra-conference/ This year’s theme celebrates and examines the more human elements of larger scale, interdisciplinary projects in which most of our community is involved. The plenary session and workshop will dive into water science-based work that relies on multiple organizations, long timelines, and excellent communication to be successful. We’re also featuring the Yellowstone area in these plenary sessions. Presenters are encouraged to focus on collaborative science in their talks and posters. We hope the theme resonates with the AWRA community, and we hope to hear some great conversations among peers throughout the conference activities. Pre-conference activities start on Wednesday, October 17th with an optional training, optional field trip, and 5K walk/run. The optional training on presentation tips and skills is provided by Montana State Professional Development Center and runs from 10:00am to 12:00pm. After the workshop, the optional field trip leaves from the Holiday Inn West Yellowstone at 1:00 p.m. for the Yellowstone National Park area and returns to the hotel at 5:00pm. This year the field trip is organized by AWRA Treasurer Kim Snodgrass. More details on the field trip are provided later in the newsletter. This year Hydrophile 5K run/walk event will start and end at the Holiday Inn West Yellowstone. The Hydrophile 5K is free and is open to everyone who attends! Nancy Hystad is an icon at AWRA and will be running the registration and merchandise desk again this year. The registration desk will be open Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thursday, and 7:00 to noon Friday. The conference will start with our Plenary Session at 8:00 a.m. Thursday, with opening announcements by Montana AWRA officers and the Water Center followed by a legislative update. Keynote presentations featuring a series of talks about collaborative science in and around Yellowstone National Park will be given during the plenary. Our keynote series speakers represent a variety of organizations working in water science in Montana. Thursday afternoon includes lunch and technical sessions followed by a poster session and social evening. Thursday lunch is provided as part of your registration fees. This year, we’re doing something a little more inclusive by extending our poster session social evening in lieu of the traditional banquet. The poster session and social will start at 5 pm and include posters, photo contest, and a celebration of Larry Dolan’s Water Legend induction. As usual, the social will have local craft beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres for everyone to enjoy. The social evening is included in the price of registration and everyone is invited! Friday technical sessions start at 8:00 a.m. and run until noon. We will conclude the conference with a brief closing plenary which will include final remarks, notice of where the 2019 AWRA Conference will be held, the student presentation and poster awards, the announcement of the incoming AWRA Treasurer, and the passing of the AWRA gavel to the next President. 2018 Field Trip: West Yellowstone: Inside and Outside the Park Kim Snodgrass, Treasurer and Field Trip Leader The 2018 pre-conference field trip will take place on October 17th. The Salt Lake Express Charter bus will load outside the Holiday Inn, on Yellowstone Avenue (south) side of the hotel, leaving at 1:00 pm and returning at 5:00 pm. This year’s field trip takes us to a recent land conservation project on the South Fork of the Madison River and to Yellowstone National Park for discussions on recent research of water - rock reactions providing microbial habitats as well as the controlled hydrothermal groundwater area. Stop 1. The first stop is an overlook into the Madison River and riparian areas. Peter Brown, Stewardship Director with the Gallatin Valley Land Trust (GVLT) will discuss how private land conservation strategies help with water conservation and natural infrastructure preservation. GVLT recently approved a new Conservation Easement on the South Fork of the Madison River just outside of West Yellowstone. It’s part of a broader series of protected parcels on the river that are a representation of water resource protections in the West Yellowstone area. Stop 2: The second stop is Artist Paint Pots in Yellowstone National Park. Dr. Alysia Cox, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Geochemistry at Montana Tech of the Laboratory Exploring Geobiochemical Engineering and Natural Dynamics (LEGEND), will lead the group with current research regarding the seasonal dynamics of hot spring ecosystems and the interconnectivity of mud pots as determined by geologic core data, hot spring water chemistry, and microbial community data within YNP. Stop 3: The third stop is the Gibbon Geyser Basin to view Sylvan Springs and Monument Geyser Basin from a distance. Alan English, Hydrogeologist with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, will discuss the Yellowstone Controlled Groundwater Area. Alan will discuss the history of the control zone and how it is monitored and enforced. Stop 4: The fourth stop is the Porcelain Basin of the Norris Geyser Basin to view thermal features that have acidic waters with high metal contents that produce red, orange, and yellow mineral biofilms. Dr. Brian St. Clair, postdoc with the Center for Advanced Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Processing at Montana Tech will discuss microbial metal metabolisms found throughout the Norris Geyser Basin. 2018 Photo Contest Melissa Schaar, Vice-President Once again, it is the time of year where we ask you for your latest and greatest water resources photos! We are looking for any and all photos related to Montana’s water resources and water resource professionals. These can be scenic photos, technical photos, recreational photos, or humorous and embarrassing photos! There will be prizes for the winners of each photo category. Please send your latest and greatest water resources photos to Melissa Schaar at [email protected] . If possible, please submit photos by September 30th, although late entries may be accepted! Revisiting the 2017 MT AWRA Conference Melissa Schaar, Vice-President We convened for the 34th annual conference at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena, October 18-20, 2017. Our theme was "Science, Policy and Communication: The role of science in a changing world." Students, professionals from private and public sectors, and academics participated. Dr. Susan Gilbertz from MSU Billings led a well-attended pre-field trip training. The training was entitled Science and Collaboration with the Public. The workshop focused on communicating scientific information to the public through writing, speech and social media. After lunch, we headed out on an excellent field trip exploring the present, past and future of water in the Helena Valley. The first part of the field trip was led by Jennifer McBroom of the Lake Helena Watershed Group discussing the re-watering and restoration projects on Prickly Pear Creek. The flow restoration project began in 2008 to keep the creek flowing during the summer months. Water from Bureau of Reclamation is transported through the Helena Valley Irrigation District to Prickly Pear Creek. This benefits junior water users, aquatic life, and the overall health of the creek. Also discussed with be a 2011 Prickly Pear Creek joint restoration project between private landowner (Elliott) and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. The purpose was to restore channel functionality and address water quality and quantity concerns. The second part of the field trip was to Canyon Ferry, first stopping at Shannon Boat Launch with an overlook of Canyon Ferry and Cemetery Island. Ellen Baumler, from the Montana Historical Society, led the group with a unique historical perspective of Canyon Ferry, including the social and economic climate when the Dam was originally constructed and the village that remains entombed under Canyon Ferry Lake The next Canyon Ferry stop was below the Dam at the Riverside Group Use Area located along the Missouri River with a southern view of Dam workings. Thomas Woolf, the Montana, Fish Wildlife, and Parks Aquatic Invasive Species Bureau Chief led a discussion on invasive species. Lastly, the highlight of the trip, the Bureau of Recreation’s (BOR) representatives led field trip participants through the inner workings of Canyon Ferry Dam. After the field trip the Annual Hydrophile 5K run/walk rounded out the evening ending at the Blackfoot Brewery. Attendees gathered at the Great Northern on Thursday and Friday to take in excellent presentations and posters. A plenary session kicked off Thursday morning with two keynote addresses and a legislative update. Tom Livers, Director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality discussed science and policy in Montana. Dr. Robert Lackey, presented the second keynote A Practitioner’s Guide to Identifying Advocacy Masquerading as Science. Dr. Lackey is a professor of Fisheries Science at Oregon State University. The plenary session concluded with an update in water policy activities and legislation by Jason Mohr. Mr. Mohr is a research analyst with the Montana Legislative Environmental Policy Office and serves as staff to the Water Policy Interim Committee (WPIC).