Teton River Distribution Project

The Teton River Distribution Project was created by 9th and 12th Judicial Districts Court for the 2017 irrigation season. Water users throughout the basin petitioned for the appointment of water commissioners in 2016. In its inaugural irrigation season, the project proved to be a success based on comments received from water users throughout the basin. Public meetings will be held in the October and November 2017 to address any and all issues that arise during the 2017 administrative effort.

This website is set up in a blog format. Chief Water Commissioner Peter Fritsch is authorized to post photos and comments on stream conditions, priority date cutoffs, etc. Water users may post questions to the blog that will be answered as quickly as possible. This website is an effort to create transparency and effective decision making on behalf of the Teton River Distribution Project.

Teton River Streamflow Quick Links
Upper Teton River USGS Realtime Gauge
Middle Teton River USGS Realtime Gauge
Lower Teton River USGS Realtime Gauge
Teton River Below Hwy 221 Realtime Gauge - Realtime
Teton River above Springhill Reach – Realtime

Deep Creek at Pishkun Bridge

Teton River at Buck Bridge

These last three gauges are updated manually by Aaron Fiaschetti on a weekly basis depending on his schedule.

Lower Spring Creek
Upper Spring Creek
Teton River below Hwy 287, above Deep Creek

Daily Average Streamflow Website

Friday, May 15, 2020

May 1st Hydrological Report & May 15 Snowpack Map

This snow accumulation season started with the record-breaking storms of late September and October. November was a relatively dry month, but since then, precipitation has been near average. April continued the trend with average precipitation.

The first part of the April brought well below-average temperatures, while the second half of the month brought sunshine and near-record high temperatures. At Badger Pass SNOTEL (6900 ft elevation), located above Swift Reservoir, temperatures reached nearly 70 degrees on April 29th.

The basin wide snowpack peaked above normal on April 19th, which is about a week later than normal, and it is currently melting fast. Streams and rivers are on the rise, including the North Fork of the Sun and Dearborn Rivers, which are flowing at near-record high stages for May 1st. Streamflow forecasts for the May 1st – July 31st period indicate near to slightly above average volumes are possible this spring and summer.

If you would like to read the whole state hydrological report for May 1st please click on this link.

May 15 Snowpack Map

Thursday, May 7, 2020

April 2020 ROD's

Zone 1 ROD

Zone 2 ROD

Zone 3 ROD

Zone 4 ROD

Zone 5 ROD

MTFWP ROD

Daily Average flows for Springhill and Lower Spring Creek gauges.  These values are used to calculate FWP's 1985 instream flow reservations record of distribution on the Teton River and Spring Creek.  As soon as I get the full monthly values for Spring Creek, I will update this post.

Daily Average Flows

Sunday, April 19, 2020

April 2020 Hydrological Report & 4/15 Snowpack Map

March precipitation was below average in the Sun-Teton-Marias River basin. Storms on March 11th and the 31st brought most of the month’s precipitation. Even after having a record-setting start to the water year, the basin is slightly behind average for water year-to-date precipitation.

With that said, all the basin’s SNOTEL sites currently have above-normal snow water content, which is a result of the significant amount of snow they received before October 1st. Typically, the basin’s snowpack peaks in mid-April, and all non-burned sites have already reached their typical peak
values.

Spring is young, and there is still an opportunity for significant snow in the coming weeks. However, if that doesn’t pan out, the snowmelt driven component this season should not be lacking. Current streamflow forecasts indicate near to slightly above average streamflows are possible for the April 1st through July 31st period.

April 15 Snowpack Map

If you would like to view the entire state hydrological report for April, click on this link.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

March 1 Hyrdrologic Outlook for Teton River Basin & 3/25 Snowpack Map

Precipitation was above average at mountain locations in the Sun-Teton-Marias River basin during February. No significant snowstorms stand out in February, but mountain snowfall was consistent throughout the month. New snow was recorded 22 of 29 days during February at Mount Lockhart SNOTEL.

The basin-wide snowpack is currently well above normal, and it is near its typical annual peak, which doesn’t usually occur until mid-April. With that said, water year precipitation is currently near to below average in the Sun-Teton-Marias River basin.

This difference can be attributed to the significant amount of snow that fell before October 1st and the relatively dry November and December. Near to above normal snowpack has resulted in forecasts within the basin which are near to slightly above average for the Apr 1st – July 31st period.

March 25 NRCS Snowpack Map

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Daily Average Streamflow Data Downloads

To calculate the FWP instream reservations, we are using daily average streamflows at the Springhill Gauge.  The daily averages smooth out the 24hr high and low flows to a average flow, which can then be doubled to calculate acre-feet for purposes of billing like all other users in the drainage. 

DNRC is calculating and updating the daily average streamflow data as early as possible after the 1st of each month to provide Scot Sessions the data to create his tabulation of FWP water.

I have added the link to the top of the website where all the stream gauge links are located.  To download the stream flows, you need microsoft excel.  I am not sure how old a version can successfully download the data. 

If you can't download and would really like to see it, email me and I will send you a PDF copy of it that most anyone can open.

February 2020 RODs

Zone 2 ROD

FWP ROD