Effects of Coalbed Methane Development on Great Plains Fish Assemblages Photo Gallery Coalbed methane wells are being drilled in the Tongue and Powder River drainages. Coalbed methane wells dot the landscape of the Powder River basin. Compressor stations like this one serve as central piping locations for coalbed methane wells. Once the gas is compressed it is piped or trucked to distribution centers. Some coalbed methane product water is treated to comply with regulations and reduce the total dissolved solids before the water is discharged to streams. Coalbed methane impoundments are used to evaporate or store product water. Permitted coalbed methane product water discharge point on Burger Draw, Wyoming. Coalbed methane product water runs in a formerly ephemeral draw towards the Powder River, Wyoming. Dr. Al Zale measures water quality on a trip to identify potential study sites in the Powder River basin. Permitted coalbed methane discharge points on ephemeral draws have created streams that flow year round. Seining is the method most effective for sampling prairie streams. Windy Davis and Dr. Robert Bramblett use a backpack electrofisher to conduct fish surveys on Youngs Creek in the Tongue River drainage. Fish surveys are conducted by seining streams. Streams in the study area vary from very small streams like the one pictured to larger streams that provide important spawning habitat for fish from the Powder River. Fish are collected, identified, measured, and returned to the stream. Creek chub, (Semotilus atromaculatus), is one of many native warm water species that lives in the Powder River drainage. Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is one of many native warm water species that lives in the Powder River drainage. Habitat surveys are conducted at every study site to characterize the physical differences between streams. Dry Creek, a tributary to the Powder River, transports coalbed methane product water from upstream holding ponds to the mainstem of the river. Fish have been found to live in coalbed methane product water in the lowest part of Burger Draw near the confluence with the Powder River, Wyoming. Squirrel Creek at the confluence of the Tongue River is one of two study streams in the Tongue River drainage. Coalbed methane development has been in place for more than 5 years in this area and until recently was the only development in Montana. Ranching is the main land use in the Powder River basin. The ranch pictured is located east of the Little Powder River, just beyond the extent of the coalseams being tapped for gas. Fishless reach of stream in an area with coalbed methane development. No baseline information exists regarding the historical resence of fish in most small tributaries to the Powder River, Wyoming. The Powder River drainage has several low order streams such as the one in this picture. Summer thundershowers contribute to the stochastic flow regimes of the Powder River. back

Updated: August 4, 2008 ©2009 Montana Water Center. All rights reserved.