Scientists use Infrastructure funding to reconnect historic waterway

 
"A group of people standing on the Warms Springs bridge and diversion dam."
Water flows through the Twin Lakes Creek Diversion over Meyers Dam on Warm Springs Creek in Montana. (USDA Forest Service photo by Catherine Mcrae)

For the first time in more than 100 years, the Warm Springs Creek and Clark Fork River in west-central Montana will connect to create a passageway for native trout migration and improve the overall watershed health in the region.

This project is one of many ongoing restoration projects on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest that uses infrastructure funds to meet major goals to benefit native fish populations in the region.

Over the last 10 years, the Forest has worked closely with private, state and federal partners on stream improvement projects, and a major goal of that work is to reconnect Warm Springs Creek to the Upper Clark Fork River. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided the Forest Service with $5.5 billion and the authority to tackle the most pressing issues facing our natural resources and associated infrastructure, such as trails, roads and bridges.

"The Storm Lake Creek Diversion wood structure."
The Storm Lake Creek Diversion, in place since the late 1800s, and the ditch is now considered bull trout critical water.  The stream is diverted into Silver Lake leaving the historic Storm Lake Creek essentially dry all year below the diversion point. Silver Lake acts as a fish barrier that keep non-native species like brook trout out of Storm Lake Creek. A catchment collects bull trout, which U.S. Fish and Wildlife employees move to other areas of the tributary system. Once the new projects are complete, native fish should be able to move themselves around in the greater Warm Springs drainage.  (USDA Forest Service photo by Catherine Mcrae)

Warm Springs Creek is a headwater tributary and a native trout stronghold of the Upper Clark Fork River in west-central Montana. Warm Springs Creek is perhaps best known as an industrial water supply for the city and community of Butte-Silverbow. The headwaters, however, also is used for local agriculture and includes critical bull trout habitat and a recreational fishery. Bull trout is native to the U.S. and Canada with a range from northern California to Alaska.

“This re-connection will improve overall watershed health, and finally allow native trout to migrate upstream to historical spawning grounds,” said Jennifer Mickelson, watershed program manager for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge. “Ensuring a connection to the Clark Fork River, and access to spawning habitat, is central to meeting long-range fisheries restoration goals in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin.”

The work is accomplished through a variety of partners, largely led by the efforts of Trout Unlimited, whose is instrumental in this and other Forest Service projects across the country. Forest Service partners play a crucial role in the restoration and fisheries projects. Trout Unlimited, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, has leveraged investments from the infrastructure funding for joint work on Warm Springs Creek.

The funding will support the continuous Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s collaborative fish passage work.

"A group of people standing near the Warm Springs Creek Bridge and Diversion."
USDA Forest Service and project partners stand on a new bridge over the Warm Springs Creek in Montana. The bridge is the Twin Lakes Creek Diversion, where the creek if a cool 45 degrees and allows fish passage for species like the bull trout. (USDA Forest Service photo by Catherine Mcrae)

While substantial work has already been completed on Forest Service lands, the additional funding will be instrumental in funding this project to completion over the next five years.

Restoration projects already completed include installation of a new bridge to replace an undersized culvert, installation of two new aquatic organism passage culverts, and re-routing of a one-mile section of road adjacent to Warm Springs Creek. Numerous other road, bridge, and culvert projects are planned, and when complete, the creek will be reconnected to the Clark Fork River.

“These projects purposefully connect aquatic restoration priorities with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Bull Trout recovery plans and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest’s watershed health goals,” said Pintler District Ranger Cameron Rasor. “Working with such a broad coalition of partners ensures that the infrastructure performs as designed and protects the watershed resource into the future.