Every summer, the two KOA campgrounds in West Yellowstone see tens of thousands of visitors pass through producing millions of dollars of revenue, but also tons of waste water.
Two years ago, the Department of Environmental Quality approved plans for a new regional facility to treat, store and repurpose wastewater using an aerated lagoon and hay crop irrigation—a system that has become embroiled in a legal challenge.
The irrigation system comes within a couple hundred feet of the Diamond P Ranch, which operates guided wilderness horse rides in the area.
Ranchers along with the Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, a non-profit conservation group based in Bozeman, sued KOA and the Department of Environmental Quality, alleging that the DEQ failed to provide public notice and participation during their assessment of the new system.
Upper Water Missouri Waterkeeper attorney Guy Alsentzer said the organization also has environmental concerns about the effects on the Yellowstone ecosystem.
“This is where everything from grizzly bear to native cutthroat trout roam. This is some of the cleanest and most pure public lands in the country and yet we have a state agency fundamentally reviewing things based on engineering science and refusing to do any sort of environmental analysis and refusing to disclose it’s decision making to either adjacent land owners or the greater public,” Alsentzer said.
DEQ told Yellowstone Public Radio it would not comment on ongoing legal matters, but KOA did release this statement.
“The state-of-the-art wastewater treatment system at issue in this litigation is significantly more environmentally friendly than the prior system. Montana DEQ was consulted during the planning, design and construction phase of the project to ensure all applicable laws and regulations were followed.”
This July, a Gallatin County judge issued a preliminary injunction against KOA and DEQ, putting some restrictions on the KOA waste water system as the court case continues.
Trying to strike a balance between the business interests and environmental impact, the judge has ordered the irrigation pivots only be run at night and shut off at certain wind speeds.
