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Committee hears bill to restore Montana streamgage program funding
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Summary
Senate Natural Resources Committee heard Senate Bill 55, which would renew statutory support for the state's streamflow gauge network after several gauges lost federal support. Proponents said gauges provide real-time data needed for irrigation, recreation and water-rights administration; DNRC said no new funding is required at this time.
On behalf of the interim Water Policy Committee, a bill sponsor introduced Senate Bill 55 to the Montana Senate Natural Resources Committee to reinstate the state's statutory commitment to maintaining streamflow gauges.
The bill would reauthorize and affirm the state's role in supporting an integrated stream-gauge network after several U.S. Geological Survey gauges were discontinued. Proponents said the gauges provide critical, real-time flow data used by irrigators, water commissioners, recreationists and water-rights administrators.
Rayleigh Honeycutt, executive vice president (introduced earlier in the hearing), said the gauges are "an important tool" for ranchers and land managers in short water years and asked the committee to support the bill. Jeff Lucas of Trout Unlimited told the committee that "funding the entire network is crucial because losing a single gauge compromises the integrity of the network as a whole." Mike Murphy of the Montana Water Resources Association and Nicole Rolfe of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation also testified in support. Anna Pakenham Stevenson, water resources division administrator at the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, appeared as an informational witness and answered committee questions about implementation and statute references.
Supporters described recent U.S. Geological Survey reductions in gauge support that left the state, tribes and local partners to maintain critical measuring stations. The sponsor told the committee the bill revives language that previously existed in statute but lapsed when a related provision sunsetted in 2023. The transcript cites prior statutory locations as 85-2-154 and 85-2-155.
In response to committee questions about cost and capacity, Anna Pakenham Stevenson said no additional resources would be necessary to reestablish the statutory commitment at this time. The sponsor closed the hearing and asked for a do-pass recommendation; no committee vote on the bill was recorded in the hearing record.
The committee did not take a recorded vote during the hearing; proponents and agency staff were the principal sources of detail and requested legislative reauthorization to preserve the network going forward.
