The snow that fills your tap
Morning. The first weekend of October is shaping up gorgeous, sunny and climbing from 76 today toward an almost suspicious 80 by Monday, so clear the calendar accordingly. Up front, the city is finally putting instruments on the snow that becomes 40% of your drinking water. Then your statehouse candidates take a Monday stage, MSU sketches out a bigger stadium, and we clock a Highway 191 left turn at a full 16 minutes. Coffee's on.
Bozeman is finally going to measure the snow that becomes your drinking water.
The city and Montana State are installing a monitoring station in the Sourdough drainage, the high country south of town that feeds Sourdough Creek. That creek supplies about 40% of the water coming out of your tap. The rest comes from Hyalite Reservoir and Lyman Spring, both of which already have gear tracking their snow. Sourdough was the blind spot, and closing it is the whole point.
The station, going in this fall before the first real snow, will log air temperature, soil moisture, wind, and snow depth, plus the figure water managers watch hardest, snow-water equivalent, which measures how much water is actually locked inside the snowpack. MSU earth sciences associate professor Eric Sproles told KULR8 that snow-water equivalent is the measurement scientists use to predict how much water will come out of a watershed.
A town growing this fast wants to know what is coming out of the hills before a dry year forces the question. Jessica Ahlstrom, the city's water conservation manager, called it "an important project for the city to be able to access this information to support drought management," and noted Bozeman is rewriting its long-term water plan with a 50-year horizon. Better snow data now is how you avoid guessing later.
Before you vote in November, you can spend 75 minutes Monday meeting the people who want to write Montana's laws.
The League of Women Voters, AAUW, and the Bozeman Public Library host a free legislative candidates forum Monday (Oct. 5) from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. at the Public Safety Center on North Rouse. You will hear from the candidates running in Senate District 31 and House Districts 61 and 62, the seats that actually set state policy on housing, water, and taxes.
Not sure which of those districts is yours? The state sorts it out at voterportal.mt.gov, and it is worth checking before you go so you know whose answers to weigh. These statehouse races sit lower on the ballot than the Supreme Court seat and the county offices, but they are the ones that turn up most often in the growth fights we all argue about.
Montana State wants a bigger house. The Board of Regents signed off on $5 million in donated money for MSU to hire designers and start planning a Bobcat Stadium expansion with more seats, better concessions, and improved access. The stadium holds about 22,000 now, and the school calls this a years-long process, so temper the mental picture of new bleachers by next September.
A left turn that eats 16 minutes of your day might finally get a light. The state transportation department is studying a new signal on Highway 191 at Violet and Upper Rainbow roads, where people in the roughly 300-home Elk Grove area have reported waiting that long to pull onto the highway at peak hours. It is still under review with no timeline, so for now the merge stays a test of nerve.
Monday is also your last easy day to register to vote. Regular registration closes at 5 p.m. Oct. 5 for the Nov. 3 election. Miss it and you can still sign up, but only in person at the county election office.
A genuinely top-ten fall stretch settles in, sunny and near 76 today, then 71 Saturday, 77 Sunday, and a shocking 80 Monday, with mid-40s mornings to keep you honest. Whatever you were saving for a nice day, this is the day.
Saturday (Oct. 3):
The Bozeman Icedogs host the Sheridan Hawks, puck at 7:35 p.m., tickets $10 to $15. Junior hockey is the cheapest live sports ticket in town and twice the noise you would expect.
Saturday (Oct. 3): MSU volleyball takes on Eastern Washington at Shroyer Gym, 2 p.m., a good excuse to be indoors for exactly the two hours you will not want to be.
Saturday (Oct. 3): The free Hidden Gem Fall Market sets up at Wild River Thrift out on Huffine, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for the browsers and the treasure hunters.
Sunday (Oct. 4): Shovels & Rope play The ELM, doors at 7 and show at 8, tickets from $47. The husband-and-wife duo make more racket than two people should be allowed to. The week's splurge.
Sunday (Oct. 4): Tales from the Tombstones walks you through Sunset Hills Cemetery with the stories behind the stones, 3 to 5 p.m. ($23 to $25). October arrives right on cue.
Test your smoke alarms this weekend.
The mayor will proclaim Fire Prevention Week at Tuesday's commission meeting, which is as good a nudge as any now that furnace season is here and the woodstoves are getting lit again. Press the button, swap the batteries if the chirp is overdue, and make sure the one outside the bedrooms still works. It is the most boring five minutes you will spend all month and the only one that might matter at 2 a.m.