Water May Be Montana’s Most Important Resource (Opinion)

If you are totally oblivious to the current weather situation, you better familiarize yourself with it pretty quick. With the 15-day forecast having no change in precipitation and temperatures high and shortages are coming, the chances of having intermittent power outages are fast approaching. So, you better have a plan for food problems and a plan for trying to keep your house livable.

Water restrictions may be put in place sooner than later. According to an article on ktvq.com, currently, the river is only flowing at 42% of its normal flow. Water plant engineers in Billings said we are using about 50 million gallons a day. We have the capacity to clean and pump about 60 million gallons a day. If people would separate their water usage times that would help. Hopefully, you have been watering plants and gardens while we had the water. More of you should be watering at midnite while usage is down to take some of the pressure off the system.

You've heard me talk time and time again about letting all this water flow right by us. People in San Francisco and New York don't want any interruptions on the Yellowstone whatsoever. Screw them. Water in Montana is one or maybe even the top natural resource we have. We must do a better job of keeping it and using it wisely. We can't let people who live in those other areas decide what's best for our state and the people who live here. They--Washington, Oregon, California--want us to do a better job providing them the electricity they need so they don't have to scar their own state. But letting us keep more of our own water? Well, they just will not let that happen on a river like the Yellowstone. On second thought, maybe I'll turn my air-conditioner down more so there's less for them. See how they like us dictating policy. See ya tomorrow at 5.