Abstract
Evaluating the State of the Clark Fork River and its Basin requires that we periodically:
- Assess its condition & compare that to our goals for the basin;
- Determine whether the basin’s condition is getting better or worse;
- Evaluate our plans & on-the-ground actions for effectiveness; and
- Consider challenges that face us in meeting our goals.
Condition and Trends
The basin’s condition in 2014 is compared to its condition since 2000 based on biennial assessments made by MT Department of Environmental Quality and summarized in the Clean Water Act Information Center database. From 2000 to 2004, the percent of assessed streams found to be impaired decreased, due to insufficient data. Between 2004 and 2008, many of those streams were re-assessed and put back on the impaired list (77% of stream miles impaired). By 2014, 73% of assessed stream miles were judged to be impaired.
Macroinvertebrate biological integrity assessments throughout the basin are showing improvement. MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks traded their MFISH database for a new Crucial Areas Planning System interactive mapping system. Trend information was not available, but the system’s Watershed Integrity assessment put 40% of the basin’s watersheds in the highest quality quartile for the state.
Challenges
Challenges that interfere with achieving basin water quality goals continue to be: rapid growth in the human population and in unregulated groundwater wells, less snowpack, longer fire seasons (taking much of the Forest Service’s budget and leaving less for watershed work). Stream dewatering and flow related water quality impairments are growing concerns as are aquatic invasive species and flood damage.
Plans & Actions
MT Department of Environmental Quality has completed total maximum daily load plans for 98% of the impaired waters in the basin, and many watershed restoration plans have also been completed. New digital floodplain maps are available for all but 3 basin counties, and online channel migration zone maps are available for some areas. Montana FWP has an aquatic invasive species management program with boat inspection stations and public education. FWP fisheries restoration efforts on the Blackfoot River have been followed by impressive increases in native trout numbers and biomass.
In addition to its stream restoration projects, the MT Natural Resource Damage Program purchased 40,000 acres to add to MT Wildlife Management Areas. The Missoula Wastewater Treatment Plant continues to move towards ‘Zero Waste’ by using its effluent to irrigate a tree plantation, sending all its sludge to a compost facility and capturing its methane for energy.
2015 was a ‘watershed year’ for the Clark Fork watershed. New state and basin water plans were adopted, the Montana Legislature ratified the CSKT Compact and sent it to Congress, and the Montana Watershed Coordination Council registered as a 501(c)(3) organization. While almost 30 watershed groups remain active in the basin, two important groups lost funding – The Tristate Water Quality Council ceased to exist and the Clark Fork Basin Task Force became dormant (but hopes to revive as a basin council as recommended in the basin water plan).
Postscript – in fact the Clark Fork Kootenai Basin Council did form in 2017.
Start Date
23-4-2015 7:00 PM
End Date
23-4-2015 7:40 PM
Document Type
Presentation
2015 State of the River - 30 Years of Conservation Progress
Evaluating the State of the Clark Fork River and its Basin requires that we periodically:
- Assess its condition & compare that to our goals for the basin;
- Determine whether the basin’s condition is getting better or worse;
- Evaluate our plans & on-the-ground actions for effectiveness; and
- Consider challenges that face us in meeting our goals.
Condition and Trends
The basin’s condition in 2014 is compared to its condition since 2000 based on biennial assessments made by MT Department of Environmental Quality and summarized in the Clean Water Act Information Center database. From 2000 to 2004, the percent of assessed streams found to be impaired decreased, due to insufficient data. Between 2004 and 2008, many of those streams were re-assessed and put back on the impaired list (77% of stream miles impaired). By 2014, 73% of assessed stream miles were judged to be impaired.
Macroinvertebrate biological integrity assessments throughout the basin are showing improvement. MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks traded their MFISH database for a new Crucial Areas Planning System interactive mapping system. Trend information was not available, but the system’s Watershed Integrity assessment put 40% of the basin’s watersheds in the highest quality quartile for the state.
Challenges
Challenges that interfere with achieving basin water quality goals continue to be: rapid growth in the human population and in unregulated groundwater wells, less snowpack, longer fire seasons (taking much of the Forest Service’s budget and leaving less for watershed work). Stream dewatering and flow related water quality impairments are growing concerns as are aquatic invasive species and flood damage.
Plans & Actions
MT Department of Environmental Quality has completed total maximum daily load plans for 98% of the impaired waters in the basin, and many watershed restoration plans have also been completed. New digital floodplain maps are available for all but 3 basin counties, and online channel migration zone maps are available for some areas. Montana FWP has an aquatic invasive species management program with boat inspection stations and public education. FWP fisheries restoration efforts on the Blackfoot River have been followed by impressive increases in native trout numbers and biomass.
In addition to its stream restoration projects, the MT Natural Resource Damage Program purchased 40,000 acres to add to MT Wildlife Management Areas. The Missoula Wastewater Treatment Plant continues to move towards ‘Zero Waste’ by using its effluent to irrigate a tree plantation, sending all its sludge to a compost facility and capturing its methane for energy.
2015 was a ‘watershed year’ for the Clark Fork watershed. New state and basin water plans were adopted, the Montana Legislature ratified the CSKT Compact and sent it to Congress, and the Montana Watershed Coordination Council registered as a 501(c)(3) organization. While almost 30 watershed groups remain active in the basin, two important groups lost funding – The Tristate Water Quality Council ceased to exist and the Clark Fork Basin Task Force became dormant (but hopes to revive as a basin council as recommended in the basin water plan).
Postscript – in fact the Clark Fork Kootenai Basin Council did form in 2017.