Upper Clark Fork Aquatic Restoration Strategy II Prepared by December 2016 i Table of Contents I. Introduction ........................................................................................................1 A. Bio-Physical Characteristics .........................................................................3 B. Social Context ................................................................................................7 C. Water and Land Use.......................................................................................8 D. Industrial Development ..................................................................................9 E. Legal and Institutional Setting .......................................................................10 i. Basin Closure History ........................................................................10 ii. Superfund Designation ......................................................................10 iii. NRDP Restoration Plan .....................................................................12 II. Watershed Needs and Issues .............................................................................14 A. Water Supply .................................................................................................14 i. Streamflow Variability.......................................................................14 ii. Water Usage .......................................................................................20 iii. Conveyance Losses ............................................................................24 iv. Irrigation Water Storage ....................................................................26 v. Groundwater ......................................................................................27 vi. Changes in Climate ............................................................................29 B. Water Quality .................................................................................................31 i. Low Streamflows ...............................................................................32 ii. Metals Contamination ........................................................................36 iii. Nutrients and Sediment ......................................................................42 iv. Water Temperatures ...........................................................................46 C. Fishery Challenges .........................................................................................48 i. Water Quality .....................................................................................49 ii. Species Makeup .................................................................................49 iii. Population Densities ..........................................................................52 iv. Fish Passage Barriers .........................................................................52 D. Inefficient and Outdated Irrigation Infrastructure ..........................................53 III. Restoration and Cleanup Progress to Date .....................................................56 A. Restoration Progress ......................................................................................56 B. Cleanup Progress ...........................................................................................58 IV. Aquatic Restoration Strategy for the UCF ......................................................62 A. Ecological Strategy ........................................................................................62 B. Community and Institutional Strategy ...........................................................63 C. Integrated Strategy and Goals for the UCF....................................................64 i. Goals and Objectives .........................................................................65 ii. Opportunities in the UCF ...................................................................66 iii. Flow Restoration Projects ..................................................................66 iv. Tributary Restoration Opportunities ..................................................66 V. Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................70 ii List of Figures Figure 1. Project area map .........................................................................................................2 2. Map of land ownership in the Upper Clark Fork Basin (UCF) .................................5 3. Map of average annual precipitation in the UCF .......................................................6 4. Monthly climate summary for Deer Lodge ...............................................................7 5. Population trends in counties that comprise the UCF ................................................8 6. Photo of Clark Fork River in the 1970’s ....................................................................11 7. Average daily discharge on the Clark Fork River (CFR) at Galen ............................15 8. Map displaying synoptic flow measurements on the UCF (August, 2013) ...............16 9. CFR synoptic stream survey graph (August, 2015) ...................................................17 10. Average daily summer discharge on the CFR at Deer Lodge ...................................18 11. Average daily discharge on the CFR at Deer Lodge .................................................18 12. Average monthly discharge (August) on the CFR at Deer Lodge .............................19 13. Map of estimate of irrigated lands in the UCF (2016) ...............................................21 14. Graph of irrigated acreage in the UCF (1940-2010) ..................................................22 15. Graph of sprinkler irrigation techniques in MT (1998-2013) ...................................22 16. Map of major ditches and reservoirs in the UCF .......................................................25 17. Statistics for wells in the UCF ...................................................................................28 18. Average annual temperature and precipitation for W. MT (1895-2015) ...................30 19. Map of dewatered waterbodies in the UCF ...............................................................33 20. Average daily discharge on Racetrack Creek (summer 2016)...................................34 21. Image of dewatered CFR (summer 2016) .................................................................34 22. Map of abandoned mines in the UCF ........................................................................37 23. Image of UCF slicken ................................................................................................38 24. Map displaying water quality sampling results for copper in the UCF .....................40 25. Map displaying water quality sampling results for arsenic in the UCF .....................41 26. Image of Cladophora bloom on the CFR near Clinton ..............................................43 27. Map of UCF tributaries listed as impaired for sediment and/or metals .....................44 28. Map of waterbodies in UCF listed as impaired for nutrient loading .........................45 29. Map displaying water temperature distributions in the UCF (2015) .........................47 30. Economic impact of angling in 2013 on the Clark Fork ............................................48 31. Image of a brown trout observed in the UCF ............................................................50 32. Map of native fish species distribution & fish barriers in the UCF ...........................51 33. Image of restoration work in the UCF .......................................................................56 34. Images of Silver Bow Creek pre and post restoration ...............................................58 35. Image of young angler on Silver Bow Creek.............................................................59 36. Aerial photo of restoration on Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch ..................................60 37. Map of cleanup phases of the UCF Reach A .............................................................61 38. Map of CFC restoration priorities in the UCF ...........................................................69 iii List of Tables Table 1. Summary of environmental lawsuit settlements in the UCF .....................................12 2. Consumptive use estimates for the UCF ....................................................................23 3. Ditch conveyance losses in the UCF .........................................................................24 4. Overview of the 10 largest water storage facilities in the UCF .................................27 5. MT DEQ impaired waterbodies in the UCF TMDL planning area ...........................32 6. Flow targets for streams in the UCF (MT FWP) .......................................................36 7. UCF restoration milestones achieved since 2010 ......................................................57 8. Summary of restoration milestones in the Upper Clark Fork for 2025 .....................67 9. Flow project opportunities in the UCF ......................................................................70 VI. References ...........................................................................................................72 VII. Appendix A-Partner Groups in the UCF.........................................................77 iv Introduction I. Introduction The Clark Fork River is located in the northwest region of the United