The warmest June and July on record. Nearly 2,300 wildfires, burning nearly 1 percent of the state landmass. Lowest hay yield since 1935 and the worst barley yield since 1900. Record-low water reservoirs. One-third fewer cattle roaming on parched rangeland.

The summer drought of 2021 was memorably miserable, echoing past droughts of 1961 and 1988.

But there are reasons for optimism: rebounding streamflows, decreasing stream temperatures, steady grain and livestock prices, a predicted La Nina winter weather pattern.

Reminded of the past and with an eye on the future, two efforts are underway to improve the state’s “drought resiliency.”

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will update the state drought plan, which was last updated in 1995. The department will formally roll out their planning effort Oct. 14, eventually forming stakeholder groups from each of the state’s seven climactic divisions. (The DNRC is planning to launch a dedicated website in the coming months; current drought information may be accessed here.)

And recently passed federal legislation will result in the placement of 220 meteorological stations in central and eastern Montana, which will measure soil moisture and local climate.

Examples of soil and climate monitoring stations that will be placed in central and eastern Montana. (Montana Climate Office)

There is not enough monitoring in that part of the state and at elevations under 5,500 feet, according to state climatologist Kelsey Jencso. The project through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will start slowly, Jencso told the Governor’s Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee last week, but will eventually encompass the entire upper Missouri River basin, including North Dakota and South Dakota.

The Montana Legislature’s Water Policy Interim Committee will track the updated drought plan and the Missouri River Basin Drought and Snowpack Monitoring Act in the coming months. Visit the WPIC’s website here.

(Header image: Musselshell Watershed Coalition)