Program Background

Water measurement is the most fundamental tool in water management and the first step in gaining information necessary to manage the resource.

The Montana Water Measurement Program was established by the 1991 legislature and is designed to identify watercourses where chronic dewatering significantly impairs beneficial uses and to resolve conflicts between competing water uses such as agriculture, fisheries, industrial, municipal and recreation. In addition to following the formal mandate, the program works cooperatively with various watershed groups, providing technical assistance in the form of irrigation water measurement, stream flow measurement and modeling.

The program requires measuring and controlling devices on diversions from watercourses designated as chronically dewatered. This tool can quickly reduce water use conflicts on a local level and it insures that water users get the amount of water to which they are legally entitled.