On December 1, 2016 a meeting was led by the Montana DNRC and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to discuss their current work to assess future water supplies and demands for the Missouri River and its major tributaries. The Missouri Headwaters Basin Study encompasses the headwaters down to the Fort Peck Reservoir, including the Musselshell River basin. The study will identify potential future changes in water supply and demand within the basin, and possible strategies to adapt that would mitigate the effects of a changing climate in the future. This study builds on the Upper Missouri Climate Impacts Assessment conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. This assessment, which evaluates how existing water and power operations and infrastructure would perform under predicted future water supply and demand conditions, will be made publically available soon. Both the Missouri Headwaters Basin Study and the Upper Missouri Climate Impacts Assessment compliment the focus of the current Montana Climate Assessment to understand relationships between climate and water resources.
The Missouri River at Great Falls, Montana.