Abstract
The Grant Creek tour, led by Dan Harmon, project manager for the Grant Creek Project, and Bill Bucher, will start in its headwaters and follow the creek downstream discussing problems and potential solutions along the way.
Grant Creek flows south into the Missoula Valley from the foothills of the Rattlesnake mountains northwest of the City of Missoula. The creek’s headwaters are in national forest and private ranchlands. However, residential and commercial development has grown rapidly where the creek approaches I90. To protect this development, the creek has been confined by a berm, restricting it from much of its former floodplain. The creek flows under I90 in a culvert and then onto the floor of the valley where much of the creek’s flow is lost to infiltration into its alluvial fan. Below I-90 the creek does not flow much of the year. The creek generally follows its historic path but has been straightened and channelized. From West Broadway to the Clark Fork Floodplain, Grant Creek flows across flat agricultural land that is undergoing rapid development. The creek flows near the Mullan Trail subdivision near Mullan Road, where high groundwater from leaking irrigation ditches is thought to contribute to flooding of the subdivision. The creek passes under Mullan Road in a culvert and flows through ranchland on the Clark Fork floodplain to the Clark Fork. Culverts at W. Broadway, Mullan Trail and to a lesser extent I-90 are fish passage barriers.
Missoula County seeks to develop a project that will reduce flooding, improve fish habitat and passage, and improve recreational & aesthetic opportunities. HDR has designed a project to address these goals.
Sites that will be visited include: a bird sanctuary and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation development on upper Grant Creek, culverts at I90, W. Broadway, and Mullen Road that restrict fish passage, and the site of the lower Grant Creek flood control and habitat enhancement project.
If time permits, after the Grant Creek tour, we will visit one or two other less developed creeks that lie in the path of Missoula’s development. Here we will discuss what can be done to protect these creeks from the fate of Pattee and Grant Creeks.
The downloadable file is video from this tour. The total run time is 54 minutes, 33 seconds. It is an .mp4 file. It is a very large file (1.45 GB) and may take several minutes to download. Symposium videos were produced by Missoula Community Access TV (MCAT).
Start Date
2-4-2005 1:00 PM
End Date
2-4-2005 3:00 PM
Document Type
Tour
Tour of Grant Creek Flood Control and Stream Naturalization Project
The Grant Creek tour, led by Dan Harmon, project manager for the Grant Creek Project, and Bill Bucher, will start in its headwaters and follow the creek downstream discussing problems and potential solutions along the way.
Grant Creek flows south into the Missoula Valley from the foothills of the Rattlesnake mountains northwest of the City of Missoula. The creek’s headwaters are in national forest and private ranchlands. However, residential and commercial development has grown rapidly where the creek approaches I90. To protect this development, the creek has been confined by a berm, restricting it from much of its former floodplain. The creek flows under I90 in a culvert and then onto the floor of the valley where much of the creek’s flow is lost to infiltration into its alluvial fan. Below I-90 the creek does not flow much of the year. The creek generally follows its historic path but has been straightened and channelized. From West Broadway to the Clark Fork Floodplain, Grant Creek flows across flat agricultural land that is undergoing rapid development. The creek flows near the Mullan Trail subdivision near Mullan Road, where high groundwater from leaking irrigation ditches is thought to contribute to flooding of the subdivision. The creek passes under Mullan Road in a culvert and flows through ranchland on the Clark Fork floodplain to the Clark Fork. Culverts at W. Broadway, Mullan Trail and to a lesser extent I-90 are fish passage barriers.
Missoula County seeks to develop a project that will reduce flooding, improve fish habitat and passage, and improve recreational & aesthetic opportunities. HDR has designed a project to address these goals.
Sites that will be visited include: a bird sanctuary and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation development on upper Grant Creek, culverts at I90, W. Broadway, and Mullen Road that restrict fish passage, and the site of the lower Grant Creek flood control and habitat enhancement project.
If time permits, after the Grant Creek tour, we will visit one or two other less developed creeks that lie in the path of Missoula’s development. Here we will discuss what can be done to protect these creeks from the fate of Pattee and Grant Creeks.
The downloadable file is video from this tour. The total run time is 54 minutes, 33 seconds. It is an .mp4 file. It is a very large file (1.45 GB) and may take several minutes to download. Symposium videos were produced by Missoula Community Access TV (MCAT).