Study looks at interplay of irrigation and water supplies

Irrigators in the Upper Jefferson Valley Watershed may be able to increase late summer stream flows with the proper management practices, a recently completed study concluded.

Findings in the study by the Montana Bureau of Mines & Geology suggest that allowing more water into the ground when supplies are plentiful in late fall can pay dividends by increasing the supply in late summer, hydrogeologist Andy Bobst told the Jefferson County Commission last week.

The groundwater and surface water are “tightly coupled” in the valley, he said. By applying only the water needed for a crop via pivot irrigation and lining the irrigation canals during times of low flows, irrigators may find better results, he said.