Spring 2017

When I first became aware that
Big Sky was planning to discharge
hundreds-of-millions of gallons
of wastewater annually into
the Gallatin River, it came at a
surprising time – April 2016, only
one month after the well-publicized
Yellowstone Club’s effluentreservoir
collapsed, sending 30
million gallons into that very body
of water.
Explore Big Sky, reported the news
of Big Sky’s intent to discharge
wastewater into the river and
accompanying the article was the
proverbial quote from Big Sky’s
Sewer District GM, Ron Edwards,
stating:
“I’m over storage ponds…I’m over
relying on third parties to manage
this stuff…We need another piece
of this that is 100 percent under
our control…and that piece is a
pipeline to [the Gallatin] River.”
This single pull-quote, written
in large bold font, grabbed my
attention and invariably launched
my year-long quest to uncover, what
exactly did Big Sky developers
have in store for our state’s most
cherished rivers?
Never did I expect my little
investigative-reporting odyssey
would lead to what turned out
to be an elaborate and ongoing
collaboration, including even leaders
from our most popular conservation
organizations, which plan to use
a Wild and Scenic designation to
mask a 1.5-million-dollar pipeline
to directly-discharge Big Sky’s
wastewater into the Gallatin.
Along with my investigation, I
discover much of the motivation
behind all of this lies upon the
notion that the DEQ will enforce
a moratorium on development in
Big Sky in the year 2020 if there
is no viable wastewater disposal
mechanism in place, as it will have
reached capacity, as well as little
fresh water supply left for build-out.
MONTANA FLYFISHING
MONTANA FLYFISHING