State of the Waters - Water Quality Monitoring

The March 2026 Gallatin Water Collaborative meeting focused on water-quality monitoring within the Lower Gallatin Watershed. Cameron Enright (Gallatin Local Water Quality District), Adam Sigler (MSU Extension Water Quality), and Lilly McLane (Gallatin Watershed Council) presented on the current status of the Local Water Quality District’s surface and groundwater monitoring networks, Montana State University’s data hub, and the collaborative Stream Teams volunteer program involving both the GLWQD and the Gallatin Watershed Council.

Goals of this session:

• Discuss the state of water quality monitoring in the Lower Gallatin Watershed and the Local Water Quality District.

• Understand the collaboration between GLWQD, MSU-Extension Data Hub, and Stream Teams.

• Identify additional water data needs and discuss how to integrate them into the existing monitoring program.

Meeting Resources:

• Meeting agenda

• Meeting Notes

• Full Recording

Water Quality Monitoring Resources:

• Water Data Needs Survey

• GLWQD Monitoring Networks Presentation Slides

• MSU Extension Water Quality Data Hub

• Data Hub Walkthrough/Tutorial - Adam Sigler

• Montana Drought Impacts Reporter

• Stream Gage Data Explorer

• Montana Mesonet - soil moisture map