January 9, 2015

Updated: July 30

The "Middle Blackfoot - Nevada TMDL and Water Quality Improvement Plan Addendum" was approved by EPA December 1, 2014 and the "Blackfoot Headwaters Planning Area Water Quality and Habitat Restoration Plan and TMDL Addendum for Sediment - Sandbar Creek" was approved by EPA November 13, 2014. 

Both documents are available on DEQ's Final TMDL Documents webpage.

The draft "Middle Blackfoot - Nevada TMDL and Water Quality Improvement Plan Addendum" and the draft "Blackfoot Headwaters Planning Area Water Quality and Habitat Restoration Plan and TMDL Addendum for Sediment - Sandbar Creek" are available for public comment until 5 p.m. Friday, September 19, 2014. The documents and information on submitting comments can be found on DEQ's website at: http://deq.mt.gov/pubcom.mcpx. Copies of the documents are also available at the Blackfoot Challenge's Office (405 Main St., Ovando) and the Lincoln, Seeley Lake, and Missoula public libraries. 

A public meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Helmville Community Center. Peter Brumm and Paul Kusnierz will discuss the TMDLs and answer questions. See the public notice for additional information.

April 7, 2014

Updated: May 1

An advisory group meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Lubrect Experimental Forest (38689 Hwy 200 East in Greenough). Paul Kusnierz will present the draft temperature TMDLs for the Blackfoot River and will discuss the sediment TMDL for Sandbar Creek. Peter Brumm will discuss metals TMDLs for Murray, Douglas, and Kleinschmidt creeks, and the sediment TMDL for Nevada Lake.

Contact Jennifer Schoonen (793-3900) or Peter Brumm (457-5029) if you have questions regarding the meeting.

Draft temperature TMDLs (~0.7 MB) for the middle segments of the Blackfoot River are available for watershed advisory group review until Friday, April 18. Please submit comments to Paul Kusnierz at pkusnierz@mt.gov. Contact Paul at (406) 444-4205 if you have questions.

These TMDLs will be part of an addendum to the 2008 Middle Blackfoot - Nevada Creek TMDL Document. The addendum will also contain metals TMDLs for multiple tributaries and a sediment TMDL for Nevada Lake. The draft sediment and metals TMDLs are expected to be available for advisory group review in mid April. A notice will be posted on this page when additional sections of the addendum are available.

Updated information on the metals, sediment, and temperature TMDLs has been added to the project home page.

The "Lower Blackfoot Nutrients TMDLs and Water Quality Improvement Plan" was approved by EPA in September of 2013. The final document is now available on DEQ's Final TMDL Documents webpage. Copies are also available at the Seeley Lake public library and at the Blackfoot Challenge office in Ovando. Responses to public comments are contained in Section 9.2 of the document.

Reminder: The public comment period for the "Draft Lower Blackfoot Nutrients TMDLs and Water Quality Improvement Plan" closes tomorrow, August 6 at 5 p.m. The draft document and information on submitting comments can be found on our website: http://deq.mt.gov/pubcom.mcpx.

After the public comment period, Paul will be reviewing and preparing responses to comments. Final edits will be made to the document and it will then be submitted to EPA for approval. A notice will be posted once the document is approved and available on our Final TMDL Documents webpage.

A spreadsheet of the nutrient data (~0.8 MB) collected in the Lower Blackfoot TMDL Planning Area in 2012 is available for review. The data is provided in both a condensed format, as well as with all the data attributes. The condensed version of the data is also available in PDF format (0.1 MB)

Note that currently, Montana only has narrative water quality standards for nutrients. DEQ is in the process of developing numeric nutrient criteria. For additional information, see DEQ's Numeric Nutrient Critera webpage.

Water Quality Sampling Update:

All nutrient water quality sampling for 2012 was completed in September. Three rounds of metals sampling will take place next year in the Middle Blackfoot and Nevada Creek TMDL planning areas. The sampling and analysis plan for this work will be posted soon.

Project Staff Announcement:

Project managers have been assigned for the metals, nutrients, and temperature TMDLs in this watershed. Paul Kusnierz will be the nutrients and temperature project manager. Paul is a new TMDL planner at DEQ, but previously worked in DEQ's water quality monitoring and assessment section. Peter Brumm with the EPA will be the metals project manager. Peter works in EPA's Montana Regional Office in Helena. Their contact information is posted in the project contacts table below.

June 25, 2012

The May 16, 2012 presentation from the Blackfoot Challenge meeting has been posted below.  

MEETING

PRESENTATIONS & HANDOUTS

May 16, 2012

Dean Yashan, DEQ TMDL Program Supervisor, gave a presentation to members of the Blackfoot Challenge 

May 16, 2012 Presentation  (1.46 MB)

This presentation reviews the TMDLs that remain to be completed in the Blackfoot River watershed and summarizes water quality sampling plans for 2012 and 2013.

February 20, 2013

DEQ gave a presentation to TMDL watershed advisory group members for the Lower Blackfoot nutrient TMDLs 

February 20, 2013 Lower Blackfoot Nutrient TMDLs Presentation (1.38 MB)

Presentation was given by Paul Kusnierz, Nutrient Project Manager

July 18, 2013

DEQ held a public meeting in Ovando for the draft Lower Blackfoot nutrient TMDLs document. The project manager, Paul Kusnierz, gave a short presentation on the draft document and TMDLs.

December 18, 2013

DEQ and EPA held a watershed advisory group meeting at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest to provide an update on the remaining TMDLs to be completed in the Blackfoot River watershed.

December 18, 2013 Presentation (2.1 MB)

This presentation was given by Dean Yashan (DEQ), Paul Kusnierz (DEQ), and Peter Brumm (EPA). The presentation provides a project overview, including the TMDLs already completed and the remaining TMDLs to be written. Specific details are provided for the Nevada Lake and Sandbar Creek sediment TMDLs, temperature TMDLs for the Blackfoot River, and metals TMDLs for Douglas, Kleinschmidt, and Murray Creeks.

*Note that the Sandbar Creek sediment TMDL project manager has changed from Dean Yashan to Paul Kusnierz.

May 6, 2014

DEQ and EPA held a watershed advisory group meeting at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest to discuss the TMDLs being completed in the Middle Blackfoot - Nevada Creek TMDL Addendum and the Blackfoot Headwaters Sediment TMDL Addendum documents.

May 6, 2014 Presentation (1.87 MB)

Paul Kusnierz (DEQ) provided an overview of the draft Blackfoot River temperature TMDLs and allocations and the draft targets and source assessment methods for the Sandbar Creek sediment TMDL. Peter Brumm (EPA) discussed the Nevada Lake sediment TMDL and provided an overview of the draft metals TMDLs and allocations for Douglas, Kleinschmidt, and Murray Creeks.

September 10, 2014

A public meeting was held at the Helmville Community Center. Peter Brumm and Paul Kusnierz  discussed the draft TMDLs in both addendums and answered questions.

September 10, 2014 Public Meeting Presentation (2.21 MB)

Presentation provides an overview of the draft TMDLs in the Middle Blackfoot - Nevada Creek TMDL Addendum and the Blackfoot Headwaters Sediment TMDL Addendum

Project Member *

Role / Organization

Email

Phone

Peter Brumm (EPA)

Metals Project Manager,

Nevada Lake Sediment Project Manager

brumm.peter@epa.gov

(406) 457-5029

Paul Kusnierz (DEQ)

Lower Blackfoot Nutrients Project Manager,

Blackfoot River Temperature Project Manager,

Sandbar Creek Sediment Project Manager

pkusnierz@mt.gov

(406) 444-4205

Blackfoot Challenge

blackfootchallenge.org

jennifer@blackfootchallenge.org

(406) 793-3900 or

(406) 549-2505