The Public Water Supplies of Montana

Abstract

When Montana was carved out of the Louisiana Purchase in 1864, it was made the third largest state in the Union. Stretching approximately from 104° to 116° west longitude it is 550 miles from east to west. From the south boundary at parallel 45° to the Canadian line on the north at parallel 49° it is 280 miles wide. Such a large area embraces a wide range of soil characteristics, topography and natural resources. It is difficult to present all these in such a brief description as this paper pretends to give, but there are certain natural divisions which will be used to give as clear a picture of the situation as is possible. This is the Land of the Shining Mountains and it is here that one first approaches the mighty peaks of the Rockies when traveling westward from the plains on the northern routes. The continental runs in a northwest-southeast direction through the western part of the state effectively cutting it into two natural divisions. By far the larger of these lies to the east stretching to the plains. The western portion is all mountainous with the characteristic valleys nestling among the many ranges. From the standpoint of public water supply it is convenient to consider the state in this way for there are certain characteristics common to each portion. Table 1 shows the result of such a division. On the west side of the divide the public supplies are taken largely from streams and springs. Relatively few wells are used. On the eastern side, however, especially away from the mountains, there are more wells, showing the attempt to avoid the necessity of purifying the more turbid streams, even though it means the use of water of high' chemical content in many cases.