On June 4, 2026, with the golf course green and the lifts parked, the Big Sky Water & Sewer District started pumping reclaimed water up to Spanish Peaks Mountain Club. It pumped on 21 days that month and sent 9,682,323 gallons, an average of about 461,000 gallons a day. July added 18 more pumping days and 7,963,929 gallons. That made 17,646,252 gallons delivered to Spanish Peaks by the end of July.
That water exists to become snow. Big Sky Resort plans to use it this winter as a base layer on Spirit Mountain, parts of Andesite and the Spanish Peaks base area. For the people who ski from that side of the mountain, the 2026–27 season didn't start with the first cold night. It started with a pump schedule in early summer.
A Year Later Than Announced
The permits were in place well before this summer. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality issued the final permit on October 1, 2025. It took effect November 1, 2025, and runs through October 31, 2030. When Explore Big Sky reported the approval in October 2025, it said operations would begin that fall.
They didn't. In a June 2026 case study in SAM Magazine, Big Sky Resort vice president of operations Adam West said the resort had not yet used reclaimed water for snowmaking because some engineering controls weren't ready for the 2025–26 season. He also said the treated water was being stored and was ready for the start of 2026–27. The district's reports back up the timing. No reclaimed water went to Spanish Peaks from February through May 2026, and deliveries began in June.
That delay explains this summer's numbers. The pipeline sat ready through last winter while engineering controls caught up, and now the water is moving in the off-season so it will be on hand when snowmaking temperatures arrive.
Here is the sequence so far:
- October 1, 2025. DEQ issues the final permit.
- November 1, 2025. The permit takes effect.
- 2025–26 winter. No reclaimed-water snowmaking. Engineering controls weren't ready.
- February 19, 2026. The district's reuse season begins, with water going to the Yellowstone Club.
- June 4, 2026. Deliveries to Spanish Peaks begin.
- End of July 2026. About 17.6 million gallons delivered to Spanish Peaks.
- November 25, 2026. Big Sky Resort's scheduled opening day.
A Handoff on the Mountain
The district's monthly tables show something no press release mentions. Reclaimed water went to the Yellowstone Club for 104 days, starting February 19, 2026, and the last four of those days fell in early June. Spanish Peaks deliveries started on June 4. As one stopped, the other began.
| Month (2026) | Days pumped to Yellowstone Club | Gallons to Yellowstone Club | Days pumped to Spanish Peaks | Gallons to Spanish Peaks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 8 | 3,017,872 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 31 | 12,854,212 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 30 | 12,509,220 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 31 | 13,019,721 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 4 | 1,511,268 | 21 | 9,682,323 |
| July | 0 | 0 | 18 | 7,963,929 |
| Through July | 104 | 42,912,293 | 39 | 17,646,252 |
The Yellowstone Club's head start matters here. It started making snow with its own reclaimed-water system in the 2023–24 season. West told SAM the idea goes back almost 20 years, to a study by the Yellowstone Club and the Army Corps of Engineers. He said it gathered speed over the last five years as the Club worked with DEQ to build the permit process and standards that others now follow. In practice, Spanish Peaks is joining a system its neighbor has been running since 2023.
The scale is easier to grasp next to the permit. Phase one at Spanish Peaks allows up to 23 million gallons a year, and phase two raises the ceiling to 44 million. SAM's 2026 account puts the eventual figure at 43 million gallons a year. It says that would nearly double snowmaking capacity on the Spanish Peaks side, which until now has relied on well water. The district's reports don't say how the delivered water will be used. Still, the 17.6 million gallons sent by the end of July equal roughly three-quarters of the phase-one annual figure, and that was after two months of pumping.
Why the Whole Town Has a Stake in the Ponds
The water starts at the district's Water Resource Recovery Facility, a plant of about $50 million that opened in 2024. Explore Big Sky reported at the time that it was rated for an average of 960,000 gallons a day, with capacity up to 1.4 million, and that it produces Class A-1 reclaimed water. SAM describes the treatment as biological nutrient removal, membrane filtration and advanced oxidation, with a third-party engineering firm monitoring at multiple points.
Behind the plant is a commitment that shapes much of Big Sky's infrastructure. The district describes the community as committed to zero direct discharge into the Gallatin River. Its own history notes that an old DEQ discharge permit for the river was never used and that the pipeline to it was never built. Treated water has to go somewhere other than the river, so it goes to irrigation, to groundwater discharge that meets permit limits, and now to snow. The district's history says snowmaking was formally recognized as storage and reuse in a 2024 update to its agreement with Spanish Peaks and the Yellowstone Club. It also counts 21 million gallons reused during the 2023–24 ski season. Reclaimed water also began irrigating the Big Sky Resort Golf Course in May 2026.
The costs are split along that same line. According to SAM, the community is responsible for getting the water up the mountain through a series of pump houses and pipes, and the treatment plant was paid for with tax dollars. The resort is responsible for the storage facilities and retention ponds. West framed the payoff in terms that reach beyond the club gate:
"Having water we can use for snowmaking makes us a reliable destination, especially early and late in the season, and is a huge boon for the rest of the community."
In the same interview, he said the larger footprint is meant to help the resort "open and close on time, stay open through the course of the season, and give the guests who are staying and coming out of that base area a reliable surface to ski over and make it to the rest of the resort." Spirit Mountain and the Spanish Peaks base connect the club to the rest of Big Sky Resort, so the reclaimed water is meant to keep that route skiable early and late in the season.
The district also tracks its own storage, which is separate from the resort's retention ponds. The July report put Pond 1 at 3.5 feet and Pond 3 at 10.25 feet, with about 55 million gallons of open capacity, or roughly 70% of the total. The district said that left enough room for expected flows.
What Is Still Unconfirmed With 51 Days to Go
Big Sky Resort has scheduled opening day for Wednesday, November 25, 2026, at Mountain Village. Daily operations are listed through April 11, 2027. Between now and then, several things are still open:
- A start date. No source has confirmed when reclaimed-water snowmaking will start at Spanish Peaks this fall. The resort's reclaimed water page still says the project was "scheduled to start in 2025," so it hasn't been updated.
- Run-by-run timing. No published schedule says when Spirit Mountain, Andesite or the Spanish Peaks base will get reclaimed-water snow.
- August and September volumes. The July report, posted August 18, is the most recent one published. The district's next board meeting, on October 20, lists its next operating report as upcoming.
- Monitoring results. The DEQ permit requires continuous flow recording, effluent sampling, and monitoring of streams and snowmelt runoff. Its annual report covers November 1 through October 31 and is due December 31, so the first full-year report hasn't been filed.
Over the longer term, West said the resort plans to add more pipe and build more retention ponds to make fuller use of the plant. No schedule for phase two has been published. For this season, the facts are that the water was delivered in June and July, the resort has said it is ready, and the lifts are scheduled to start turning on November 25.
When infrastructure like this changes how a club's season runs, it can shape how owners think about their time on the mountain and how a property is presented to buyers. If you own at Spanish Peaks Mountain Club or are considering it, Shawna Winter would welcome the chance to talk through how the club's operations, covenants and seasonal timing fit your plans. Schedule a private consultation or request a home valuation to start that conversation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
