Bozeman's Water - Where We're At Now

Over the past weeks, we’ve heard concerns from residents about the messaging around water in our community. People have been told for several years that we are running out, and understandably, they are now concerned that our messaging has changed to one that sounds like we have plenty of supply. Truthfully, we are glad to have this conversation in our community so we can share more information about the City’s water supply.

One of the major reasons that the messaging has shifted is a success story; we have better data and information to look at our water future and have done great work with our water conservation programs and water supply development.

In years past, the City projected future water supply and demand using the best information available at that time. This inherently required that the City make assumptions about growth rates, available water supplies, and demands. To be conservative and responsible in its planning, the City used a worst-case scenario projection that assumed: 4% continuous annual growth, no demand reductions from water conservation, no additional supply, and very significant impacts from climate change. While a valid approach, this projection was rudimentary, static in nature, and included highly conservative assumptions.

To improve our ability to manage our water supply in the face of growth, the City developed a water supply and optimization tool. This tool, which the City completed and began using in 2023, supports a more sophisticated and accurate water supply and demand projection. The tool evaluates the City’s legal and reliable water supply on a monthly basis alongside existing demands and projected demands associated with approved development projects. The tool puts a placeholder on water for new development as projects are approved and prior to being built. It evaluates future demands based on a land use approach, not an assumed population growth rate. This has resulted in a more accurate water management approach with fewer assumptions and still accounts for the impacts of climate change on our water supplies.

Another major factor shifting the conversation was that we all rolled up our sleeves and got to work: Bozeman residents have taken conservation messages seriously and have worked hard to reduce the demand on our water supply, leaving us in a much better place. Bozeman is still very much drought-prone. We live in a closed basin, meaning that our water supply does have a limit to it, and good environmental stewardship means that we’re using this important resource wisely and planning for current and future needs.

Our growth rate now hovers at a manageable 1-2%. When our city was growing at the peak growth rates through the pandemic, as high as 6% at one point, we did have concerns about how fast we were allocating our supply. Now that growth is down to 1-2%, the supply lasts a lot longer.
We took those growth concerns seriously and enacted time/day watering restrictions. This not only helped ensure that people weren’t overwatering their lawns, but it also helped our Water Treatment Plant better plan for and manage the amount of water being treated and delivered to the community.
We also enacted landscaping standards, ensuring that no more than 20-35% of landscapes in new development projects can have turf, reducing water use and increasing the prevalence of native plants.
The City has continued to develop its water supply and acquire new water rights. As an example, we now irrigate the Sports Park and the cemetery with irrigation water rights and no longer pull that water from the City’s potable water system.
We have increased our rate of replacing old, leaky pipes to save water and ensure reliable water delivery to our customers.

The City is constantly striving to make better decisions; to improve, grow, and make the best-informed decisions possible for our future. Thank you to everyone for the questions and concerns around our water supply. Bozeman residents are the most sustainable water users in the state, and it’s because we all care about this important resource. We appreciate you taking the time to learn more and understand.

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