(Big Sky Connection) As crippling heat sears Western states, drought is creeping into Montana where Indigenous tribes are seeing historic waterways at record lows.

Below-normal moisture and above-average heat remain in the forecast at least through the weekend, and forecasts show no end in sight for the drought. The warmest global temperatures in decades are clearly reflected in northwest Montana's lakes, rivers and streams, and the areas affected by drought are increasing.

Nowhere is it more evident than in the Flathead Lake basin.

Brian Lipscomb, CEO of Energy Keepers, an organization monitoring water levels on behalf of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said people are feeling the effect of last winter's snowpack, which was only 70 percent of normal. 

"Down 30 percent, that's really not normal for us," Lipscomb pointed out. "That water supply coming into the lake is the lowest in the 74-year record."

Lipscomb added an unusually cold winter added to the dry conditions in northwest Montana because the lack of snow reduced snowmelt and runoff into the river basin, which set the stage for even drier conditions now. 

While much of the focus has been on the record heat in western states, Lipscomb noted the worst effects of drought do not happen in one year, or even in five or 10, but multiply and accumulate.

"You have to see drought in western Montana over the course of time," Lipscomb contended. "It's snowpack, it's when is our winter due, it's what is happening with rainfall. It's what's our soil moisture content. It's what's the water supplies in the rivers."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the snowpack in Montana melted faster than it has in 30 years.