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Pondera County Drought Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, May 24, 2001 The Committee met in the Commissioners Office at the Courthouse at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 24, 2001. Those present: Stephanie Rittmann, Extension Agency David Bernhardt, National Weather Service Duane VanDyke, Farm Services Agency Cynthia Johnson, Pondera County Commissioner Steve Ruhd, Conrad Public Works Director Brad Pourroy, Tiber Water Byron Grubb, Mayor of Conrad Erik Eneboe, DNRC-State Lands Corrine Rose, Pondera County Sanitarian Rod Duty, MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks Lanny Walker, Brady Water Dist./NRCS Mark Keller, Blackfeet Tribe DES Karen Hoffmann, Pondera County DES Roy Doore, BIA - Natural Resources/DES Joe Weatherwax - Blackeet Water Res./EPA Bill Rappold, Pondera County Commissioner Cindy Mullaney, Pondera County DES
National Weather Service David Bernhardt presented information on current weather patterns affecting the NorthCentral Montana area and the State of Montana as a whole. April precipitation was above average due to the snowfall during the month. Temperatures are above normal with precipitation being about 1 inch below normal. In the NorthCentral area, precipitation totals are about 53 - 65% of normal. The Weather Service has also done some analysis of wind. In the Great Falls and Cut Bank areas, winds during the December through February period are the least on record. During the March to May period, Cut Bank is reported to be the windiest since 1973 with a 3mph increase. Great Falls is reported to be the windiest since 1991 and the Havre area the windiest since the 1923. The forecast for June and for the next 60 to 90 days is for Anormal@ precipitation and temperatures. However, normal precipitation and temperatures were forecast for May as well. The Palmer Drought Index and the Drought Monitor indicate moderate to severe drought conditions throughout the State. Blackfeet The Reservation remains dry. Run off has dropped off a lot in recent days. Although there is some grass currently, without precipitation it will be gone very soon. BIA After the April snow, water was going over the spillway on the Two Medicine. Rangeland is hurting. With no additional precipitation, grass is expected to be gone by July. It is anticipated that forest activities will be shut down unless precipitation is received within the next 20 days. The Blackfeet Water Resources Department reports that the North Fork and White Tail are starting to dry up. It is anticipated that many streams will go dry this summer. Water for irrigation will run for only a short period. Lakes along the mountain front are lower than anticipated. The Tribe is looking for participants for their 106 Grant. Brady Water District Bynum Reservoir is very low and they do not expect to receive any water from this source this year. There is a fair amount of water in Arod. They have limited irrigation in place at the present time, with restrictions on watering from 11 am to 7 pm. They have sent out conservation information to all users. The think they will be able to fill reservoirs sufficiently for winter usage. Fish Wildlife & Parks The fisheries are in tough condition. Fishermen are having a hard time getting their boats in the water. Recreationists and fishermen are advised to go now because they may not be able to later. Serious game damage issues are projected and they anticipate having to make some tough decisions regarding restrictions and/or closures later in the season. County Sanitarian There have been a few inquires regarding well logs which provide information on well depth and water quantity. The information is used to assist in determining the feasibility of drilling new wells, how deep they might need to go and quantity of water available. Information on well logs can be obtained at the following website: http://www.mbmggwic.mtech.edu. DNRC They are gearing up for fire season already. There have already been several fires in the state which are larger than normal for May. Seasonal crews have already been put on. Erik cautioned that if the fire season this year is anything like last year resources will be extremely limited and prioritized on a regional basis. There could be significant delays in responding to requests for assistance. City of Conrad The City Council met on Monday and partial restrictions will be put in place on June 15th. Businesses and residences with odd addresses will be allowed to water on Tuesdays and Saturdays and those with even addresses on Wednesdays and Sundays. The City and Schools will be allowed to water on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Gardens and flowers can be watered with hand-held sprinklers only. Restrictions will be enforced. They are also encouraging users to conserve water. The Council decided on partial restrictions in the hopes of reducing the fire potential within the City. There has been some increase in the use of the pump station at the City Yard related to producers using this water source for livestock. Byron also mentioned that the question arose last year as to why the car washes were not shut down when restrictions were in effect. He pointed out that the City does not want to force any business to shut down, a situation which can only worsen the economic impacts we are already seeing. Steve Ruhd reported increased turbidity at the Lake Frances pump station caused by wind and the low water level. Although the potential for boil water orders exists, the significant modifications already made to the intake system should help. Bids have been let for Phase III for the treatment facility updates. $100,000 was allocated by the Treasure State Endowment for the pump relocation project. Unfortunately, until all the funding for the entire project is in place those funds aren=t available. The STAG grant is sitting in Senator Burns= office and Senator Baucus is pursuing $1.5 in supplemental funding for the relocation project. Conrad will have sufficient water for drinking and sanitation. Conrad used 539 acre feet of water last year. This amount is less than the City=s allotment at 3 inches per share. Tiber Water It's very dry. Where there is grass, there is no water. Tiber Reservoir is nine feet lower this time last year. As of May 22nd, inflow is at 1500 cfs with the average being 3000. Outflow is 395 cfs with the average being 1500. They will be trying to raise the lake level two feet then raising outflow to 500 cfs. It=s hot and dusty. They have had no problems with turbidity at this point. Commissioners The Commissioners sent a letter to Governor Martz on May 18 requesting her to request a Natural Disaster Determination from the Secretary of Agriculture. On May 17th an open burning ban for the County was instituted. Due to requests from farmers who had not been able to burn stubble, a partial ban went into effect on May 21st. The partial ban allows burning from 6 am to 10 am only if the wind is not blowing and requires fires to be extinguished if the wind comes up. It is anticipated a full burning ban will go into effect if we don=t get additional precipitation. Bill Rappold reported that on the west end of the county the grass and water situation is okay at the present time but without moisture the grass will soon be gone and stock water will once again be a problem. Stream flow in Dupuyer and Sheep Creeks has dropped off. It appears there may be a drop in water levels in the wells in the Dupuyer area, a condition which doesn=t usually occur until August. Cynthia reported dry conditions in the east end of the county. Extension Most of their contacts have been from city dwellers related to lawns and trees during drought. As the situation worsens, they expect to hear from livestock producers regarding water problems. They have a good resource for range management during drought. Farm Service Agency CRP grazing was approved for 10 counties, but Pondera was not one of them. In order to qualify for CRP grazing, precipitation must be 60% of normal or less over the past four months. The problem with using precipitation as the sole criteria was discussed at some length. Suggestions for other criteria to use included monitoring soil moisture, reservoir storage and using geographic areas as opposed to jurisdictional lines. Due to the snow in April, precipitation measured 172% of normal for the month. Average precipitation is .92 and we received 1.58 inches. For the January to March period precip was 90% of normal. Based on no new precipitation it is projected that we will be at 67% on May 25th, 63% on May 28th, 61% on May 30th and by May 31st or June 1st should reach the 60% threshold. FSA will re-evaluate on May 31st and will submit a request for grazing as soon as the criteria is met. It is anticipated that no decision will be reached until mid-June. NRCS works with producers to develop grazing plans once approval is given. Under existing regulations, CRP which was grazed last year cannot be grazed again this year. The Congressional Delegation requested open grazing for the entire state but it is felt this is unlikely to gain approval. No one is authorized to hay CRP at this time. Generally haying is not approved prior to July 1st due to wildlife issues. The Emergency Conservation program is a cost share program to develop livestock water resources. It is hoped that the sites developed last year will continue to supply water this year. The criteria for this program is 70% or less of normal precipitation over 3, 6 and 12 month periods. A request for this program has been submitted even though we were only at 71% of normal. The Natural Disaster Determination has no bearing on grazing and haying CRP or on the Emergency Conservation Program. A determination provides emergency loans and tax advantages to producers who are forced to sell off due to the drought. One final program is the Livestock Incentive Program which pays producers for livestock losses due to a disaster condition. This program has not been submitted due to the difficulty reconciling requests for assistance related to drought with a request for loss of livestock due to snowfall. Duane also indicated that many acres, particularly irrigated acres, have not been planted this season due to drought conditions. It is anticipated there will be numerous preventive planting claims. Finally Duane mentioned in a survey of net farm income, nearly 100% of income is coming through government support and in some states that number is 200%. Pondera Canal Duane Van Dyke reported the Canal Company is granting 3 inches per water share this season. The By Laws state that if water is available, it must be released for irrigation. Use restrictions are in place. The decision was made to shut off water when pressure is lost. In summary, Steve Ruhd pointed out that we are all in this mess together and the cooperative spirit is tremendous. The Committee will meet again in mid-July.
Pondera County Drought Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, November 8, 2001 A brief meeting of the Drought Advisory Committee was held in the Commissioner’s Office at 10:00 a.m. on November 8, 2001. Those present were: Byron Grubb - Mayor of Conrad, Jim Lowry - Brady Water District, Dan Kiel - Tiber Water District, Steve Ruhd - Conrad Public Works, Tom Rogers - Farm Service Agency, Mark McLindon - Farm Service Agency, Cynthia Johnson - Pondera County Commissioner, Sam Harris - Pondera County Commissioner, Bill Rappold - Pondera County Commissioner, Cindy Mullaney - Pondera County DES. Cindy Mullaney stated the purpose of the meeting is to get an idea of where things stand as we head into winter. She indicated that she and Cyndi Johnson would be attending the State Drought Committee in Helena on Friday, November 9th. Cindy distributed photographs of both Swift Dam and Lake Francis taken on October 31, 2001. Cindy reported that the National Weather Service projects a weak to moderate El Nino which generally correlates to warmer, drier weather in Montana. Based on a phone conversation with the NWS this morning, Cindy reported current projections are for colder than normal temperatures with a 50/50 chance of normal precipitation. Tom Rogers reported for the Farm Service Agency. For the period November, 2000 to October, 2001, precipitation was 75% of normal with actual at 9.08 inches and a norm of 12.04. For the period May, 2001 to October, 2001, precipitation was 64% of normal with actual at 5.75 inches and a norm of 8.69. Finally, for the period August, 2001 to October, 2001, precipitation was 30% of normal with actual at .94 inches and a norm of 3.12. CRP grazing has been extended to November 30, 2001. The deadline for filing emergency loans is January 29, 2002. Livestock is still being sold off due to lack of pasture and feed caused by the lack of water. Jim Lowery reported that the reservoirs in the Brady area are full and they anticipate getting through the winter without any problems. However, the source of water for Brady, Arod Lakes, is very low. Byron Grubb and Steve Ruhd reported that Lake Francis is 10 inches higher this year than last. They are currently making some updates to the water plant. They indicated Pondera Canal is working on the East Dam at Francis and would like to use the middle gates rather than the end gates. If the Canal Company decides to use the middle gates, Conrad will need to put another hole in the tunnel and put in a new valve in order to access water. Byron also reported that the City had received several questions about why Van Dyke Construction is being allowed to use city water, from the west side of Conrad, for road construction purposes. Byron reported there is a meter in place and the company is paying the same rate for the water as other users. Steve indicated that although there should be sufficient water to get Conrad through the winter, there is still a need for $4 million to relocate the pump station to the deep pool. Dan Keil reported that more water is going out of Tiber Reservoir than is coming in at this point; however, they do not anticipate any problems with water availability. Some producers are using Tiber Water due to lack of other water sources in the area. Bill Rappold reported that in Western Pondera County the streams and reservoirs are lower than they were last year, resulting in shortages of stock water. Cindy reported that there is minimal flow coming out of Swift Dam, probably only enough to meet Tribal requirements. For more information contact Cindy Mullaney, Pondera County Disaster & Emergency Services at 271-4040.
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