The Montana Department of Environmental Quality approved a plan by the Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, part of Big Sky Resort, to use treated wastewater for snowmaking. This marks the first public ski area in Montana to use this method. Conservation groups support the practice as a sustainable way to use wastewater.
Montana Free Press reports the project involves using treated wastewater to blow snow on Spirit and Andesite mountains and the Spanish Peaks base area. Lone Mountain Land Company, which owns the club, stated that Big Sky Resort will use up to 23 million gallons of treated wastewater in the initial phase from its water treatment facility, with plans to up that to 44 million gallons annually in the second phase.
Around a dozen ski resorts around the world use treated wastewater for snowmaking including 8 in America. Neighboring Yellowstone Club began using wastewater for snowmaking in 2023 and was Montana’s first ski area to do so. Yellowstone Club has also used wastewater to irrigate its golf course for several years.
The Big Sky area has been exploring the concept of wastewater for snowmaking for decades. The Big Sky Water Sewer District studied recycled snowmaking way back in 1997 and in 2011, the Gallatin River Task Force, Yellowstone Club, and Montana Department of Environmental Quality conducted a pilot study converting one million gallons of wastewater into two acres of snow about 18 inches deep. Following this experiment, Montana Department of Environmental Quality adopted new standards for reclaimed water, including snowmaking. In 2020, the Yellowstone Club obtained a permit for wastewater snowmaking, requiring signs warning visitors “not to eat the snow.”
Vice president of environmental operations for Lone Mountain Land Company, Richard Chandler, hopes that Big Sky’s approach could serve as a model for other Montana ski areas:
“The community of Big Sky’s commitment to being a leader in water conservation has led to this incredible partnership. We are seeing less snowpack each year, and I have heard from several ski areas across Montana that are also interested in this technology. I am hopeful recycled snowmaking will become the standard practice someday in our headwater state.”
Related: Montana Ski Resort Wants To Use Wastewater For Snowmaking
images from Spanish Peaks Mountain Club Facebook
