Water Resource Policies in Montana: Interactive Roles for Undergraduates

Abstract

In 2013, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) launched a two-year project to update the state's water plan. State officials convened basin-specific citizen councils, and they organized forums at which issues of water management could be brought forward by the public. Based on this input, each basin council was charged with developing specific water-policy recommendations in the form of basin water plans that would inform a comprehensive State Water Plan. In the case of the Yellowstone Basin Advisory Council (YBAC), officials at Montana State University Billings negotiated a contract with the naturalresources department allowing a designated team to provide support for the various activities of the YBAC. One stipulation of the contract was that undergraduates could be involved as members of the support team and have access to all meetings held by the YBAC, including deliberative meetings at which policy recommendations were formulated. Seven students were involved at various stages of the two-year process. Three students participated as reliable, dedicated, and indefatigable support-team members; their contributions to the YBAC effort evolved over the course of 18 meetings. Their contributions can be summarized as: (1) community builders; (2) process facilitators; (3) process moderators; (4) "soft" policy critics; and (5) "soft" policy encouragers. This article explores those contributions as elements of policy development and explains the potential for specific learning outcomes.