1. GROUND-WATER PUMPING STREAMFLOW DEPLETION UPPER CLARK FORK BASIN AND
IN THE
UPPER CLARK FORK BASIN
ELOISE KENDY
Hydrogeologist
Clark Fork Symposium
Missoula, MT
April 1, 2005

2. Low streamflows… CONFLICTS Habitat reduction; stressed fisheries
Decreased or expensive power generation
Decreased agricultural production
Recreation impacts
CONFLICTS
Mike Roberts, Hydrologist, Montana DNRC WRB

3. Water Closures, Compacts, and Controlled Areas
Montana DNRC March 2004
Controlled ground-water areas
Montana Supreme Court order
Dept. ordered Milk River closures
Compact closures
Legislative closures
Administrative rule closures

4. Upper Clark Fork River Basin Closure
MCA §
EXCEPTIONS
Applications for:
1. GROUND WATER
Remedial action
Stock use
4. Water storage
Power generation at existing dams

5. New ground-water permits since basin closure
NUMBER of PERMITS
GPM
(CFS)
ACRES
(Sections)
UPPER MISSOURI
321
38,482
(86)
7,298
(11.4)
UPPER CLARK FK 10
1,386
(3) 27
(0.04)
TETON 1
270
(0.6)
unknown

6. Avoiding regulation: Individual wells
DNRC PERMIT CRITERIA
No permit application required for
<35 gpm, <10 ac-ft/yr
DEQ SUBDIVISIONS
No impact assessment
for domestic wells

7. Winter et al, USGS Circular 1139, fig. 3
Ground water and surface water are connected.
Winter et al, USGS Circular 1139, fig. 3

8. Basin Closures EXCEPTION for new GROUND-WATER appropriations
...where “Ground Water” is defined as:
Upper Missouri, Teton
Upper Clark Fork
Mussel-
shell, Milk
“Water that is beneath the land surface or beneath the bed of a stream, lake, reservoir, or other body of surface water and that is not immediately or directly connected to surface water” (MCA § , 340, 342)
or “not substantially or directly connected to surface water” (MCA § )
or “any ground water” (DNRC orders)

9. Effects of ground-water pumping
Pre-pumping
Water-right application 1
CAPTURED TRIBUTARY GROUND WATER
CONE OF DEPRESSION
Water-right application 2
INDUCED SURFACE-WATER INFILTRATION
Alley et al, 1999, USGS Circular 1186, fig. 13

10. Streamflow depletion: The inevitable consequence of ground-water withdrawal.
Fuyang Basin, North China Plain (Kendy, 2002)
See also: WATER FOLLIES by R. Glennon
CHINA

11. Converting from flood to sprinklers:
A solution?
Decreased streamflow withdrawals, but.....
Increased crop yields, increased irrigated acres
Increased evapotranspiration (consumption)
Decreased return flows
Decreased streamflow
Mike Roberts, Hydrologist, Montana DNRC WRB

12. EFFICIENCY Field-scale: 50% Basin-scale: 100%
Field-scale vs. basin-scale irrigation efficiency
Because of return flow, water use
can be inefficient at the field
scale, yet highly efficient
at the basin scale.
50 AF
25 AF
100 AF
12.5 AF
50 AF
6.25 AF
25 AF
EFFICIENCY
Field-scale: 50%
Basin-scale: 100%
12.5 AF
6.25 AF
Keller et al, 1996, IWMI Research Report 3, fig. 2.

13. Solutions Solutions Basin closure enforcement Water right trading
Recharge treated wastewater
Basin closure enforcement
Water right trading
Conjunctive management
High flow Divert surface water into recharge basins
Low flow Use ground water
Monitoring well
USGS Circular1247 (2003)

14. Summary Ground water and surface water are connected.
Ground-water consumption reduces streamflow.
Ground-water exception
to basin closures encourages
ground-water consumption.
Stabilizing water
consumption is the key
to sustaining streamflow.
Conjunctive management
Is essential.

15. For Further Info….
Winter, T.C., Harvey, J.W., Franke, O.L., and Alley, W.M., 1998, Ground Water and Surface Water: A Single Resource. U.S. Geological Survey Circular
1-888-ASK-USGS ( )
Glennon, Robert, 2002, Water
Follies: Groundwater Pumping
and the Fate of America’s
Fresh Waters. Island Press.
FREE!!
Eloise Kendy, Ph.D.
(406)