This Watershed News is provided in partnership with RESPEC.
Find more information on MWCC's Partnership Program here.
Funding Available to Host a Big Sky Watershed Corps Member in 2021
Need help paying for a BSWC member in 2021? Will your member be working to reduce nonpoint source pollution? The MWCC Watershed Fund has funding to help MWCC Partners implement DEQ-approved Watershed Restoration Plans (WRPs) by hosting a Big Sky Watershed Corps (BSWC) member in 2021. A total of $35,000 is available, and up to $6,000 may be awarded to each qualifying organization. Details in the Request for Proposals. The Big Sky Watershed Corps program will begin accepting host site applications late next week. The application will be available on MWCC's BSWC page as well as on the websites of our BSWC partners, Montana Conservation Corps and Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Montana. For more information, contact Terri Nichols at terri@mtwatersheds.org.
Don't Forget to Fill Out the Montana Streamgage Survey
Streamgages are vital instruments for many people and organizations to access data about their watershed. But funding to keep these gages up and running can be a hurdle. State and local watershed representatives created this 5-minute survey to better understand how and why Montanana use streamgages. Your answers can help secure more permanent funding, so don't forget to have you and your local partners fill it out!
EPA Updates Watershed Database
Find data relevant to successful watershed protection and restoration through the U.S. EPA's updated Watershed Index Online (WSIO). Downloadable from the Healthy Watersheds Hub, the new WISO database includes HUC12-level information from every watershed in the lower 48 states, including land cover, protected lands, impervious surfaces, drinking water sources, and more than 400 other indicators of watershed health. Also available on the Hub are the Recovery Potential Screening Tool, which allows comparisons of watershed condition and restorability across watersheds, and a Healthy Watersheds Protection section with access to additional tools, resources, and grants.
Linking Waterways to Human Health
The Blue Index is a tool for municipalities to better engage with the public around urban waterscapes and design centered on human health. The purpose of Blue Index is to identify the effects that waterscapes have on human well-being and to distill those effects down into design, maintenance, and policy principles that are locally relevant. This guide aims to expand public participation in water management and ecological sustainability, foster better collaboration and data gathering, and promote the inclusion of emotional wellbeing and community health in water management models.
Watershed Family Updates
Welcome Sarah Bowman, Gallatin Conservation District
Sarah grew up in southeastern Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point for her Bachelor of Science degree in Water Resources. After serving one year on a Northern Minnesota trail crew with the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa, Sarah moved to Montana in 2016 to join the Big Sky Watershed Corps Program. She was placed with the Flathead Conservation District in Kalispell and developed the Flathead-Stillwater Watershed Restoration Plan during her term. She then worked with the Lower Clark Fork Watershed Group for the last three years to develop two more state-approved watershed restoration plans for the Thompson River and Lower Clark Fork Tributaries Watersheds. She simultaneously earned her Master of Science in Environmental Science degree through Green Mountain College. Sarah enjoys being outdoors as much as possible and is an avid lover of all things music!
