Bitterroot Water Symposium 2016
April 29, Bitterroot College UM, Hamilton Campus
PUBLIC WELCOME-First Annual Patti Furniss Memorial Symposium
Where do we stand? Where are we going?
8:00 AM Registration and Introduction to Bitterroot College
8:30-8:40 AM Opening Remarks
Victoria Clark, Bitterroot College of UM Director
Heather Barber, BRWF Executive Director, Symposium Moderator
8:40- 9:40 AM, Session I: Keynote Speakers
Senator Pat Connell-Montana Legislative Viewpoint
Prior Appropriation Doctrine, Pre-1973 Water Rights & Science our Guide
Larry Swanson, Director & Scott Senior Fellow in Regional Economy,
O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West
Future Population Growth Scenarios for the Bitterroot Valley and Water
Implications
9:40-9:50 AM – Break
9:50-11:00 AM - Session 2 Groundwater Changes in the Hamilton Aquifer
Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Groundwater Investigation Program
Ginnette Abdo-Creeks & Canals and Water Table Connections
Todd Myse-Predicting the Effects of Land Use Change on Hydrogeology,
Hamilton Groundwater Investigation Project
Kirk Waren-Irrigation and Groundwater, Stevensville Groundwater
Investigation Project
11:00-11:10 AM - Break
11:10 AM-12:00 PM - Session 3: Water Quality and the Bitterroot River
Rod Daniel-Nitrates and Nitrites from septic systems around the valley
Ravalli County Environmental Health
Doug Nation-Water Quality Sample results from the Bitterroot River
Bitterroot Trout Unlimited
Michael Howell-Water Quality Bitterroot River
Program Director, Bitterroot River Protection Association
Dean Yashan-Water Quality Planning and Future Considerations in the
Bitterroot Watershed, Montana DEQ Water Quality Program Manager
Public Q & A for all the morning speakers (Heather Barber, Moderator)
12:00 – 1:00 PM --Lunch Break---Lunch provided by River Rising Bakery & Deli
1:00 PM -1:50 PM Session 4: Staging a Vision for Managing Recourses
(Panel Discussion Following Presentations, Moderator Heather Barber)
Gavin Ricklefs -- Bitterroot Land Trust
Preserving Irrigation, Farming, Ranching, Fishing, Wildlife & Beauty
Katrina Mendrey- Best Practices for Promoting Soil Health for Water
Quality, Montana State University Extension
Al Pernichele-Managing Flows on the Bitterroot River
Bitterroot River Commissioner
1:50 PM – 2:00 PM Break
2:00 PM – 3:10 PM Session 5: Water and Growth in the Bitterroot Valley
(Panel Discussion Following Presentations, Moderator Heather Barber)
Terry Nelson, Ravalli County Administrator- Planner’s Viewpoint
Travis Martinez, President, The Bitterroot Valley Board of Realtors
- Realtor’s Outlook
Brian Rouse, Ravalli County Board of Right to Farm and RanchRancher’s View
Julie Foster, Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, Executive
Director, Economic Development Impacts
3:10 PM - 3:20 PM - Break
3:20 PM - 4:00 PM Session 6: Well Water and the limits of Growth at Hamilton?
(Panel Discussion Following Presentations, Moderator Heather Barber)
Karen Mahar, City Attorney, and Keith Smith, Public Works Director, City
of Hamilton, Hamilton City wells and water rights, Water Treatment
Jim Nave, Montana Department of Natural Resources and ConservationWater Bureau Deputy Regional Manager
Water Rights-how they can help growth, how to change & follow them
Abigail J. St. Lawrence, Bloomquist Law Firm, P.C.
Water Rights Attorney
4:00 PM Concluding Remarks: Building Clean Water into Bitterroot Communities
Heather Barber, Bitter Root Water Forum