Project: GRTF Operations
The Gallatin River Task Force is a locally-led nonprofit 501(c) (3) watershed group, headquartered along the famous Gallatin River in Big Sky, Montana. The Task Force is governed by a board of community members representing a wide variety of stakeholders, including homeowners, recreational business owners, developers, and local water resource managers.

Project: Community Water Quality Monitoring Program
The Community Water Quality Monitoring Program includes quarterly water quality sampling at fourteen sites in the Upper Gallatin. Parameters tested include temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, turbidity, chloride, nitrate, total dissolved solids, pH, algae, macroinvertebrates (aquatic insects) and sediment size.

The BWTF uses the data collected to track the health of the Gallatin River and its tributaries. Other organizations use the data to make permitting, regulation decisions and compare it to other watersheds; these organizations include the Montana State University-Bozeman, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MTDEQ), Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Project: Community Outreach and Education Program
The Community Outreach and Education Program provides important water resource information to the visitors and residents of the Big Sky area. The BWTF performs several outreach and education activities each year. One example of activities in this program is assisting in the development and teaching of water quality lessons that are incorporated in science curriculums at Ophir School and Lone Peak High School.

Learn more at gallatinrivertaskforce.org »
Photos courtesy of the Gallatin River Task Force.