THE LOCAL NEWS OF THE MADISON VALLEY, RUBY VALLEY AND SURROUNDING AREAS Montana’s Oldest Publishing Weekly Newspaper. Established 1873 75¢ | Volume 144, Issue 47 www.madisoniannews.com September 15, 2016 Ben Larsen from Sheridan races FALL IN THE AIR toward the fi nish line at the Pony cross country meet Labor Day Weekend precipitation ‘much needed’ on Sept. 10. For more sports coverage, see pages A5 and A6! A������ D�����/T�� M��������� Construction underway MTD starts 3-part project around West Yellowstone, Raynolds Pass, Quake Lake A������ D�����/T�� M��������� Storm clouds bring heavy precipitation and a dusting of snow to Madison County over Labor Day Weekend. A������ D����� [email protected] A������ D����� “Our precip for August was generally Western Energy release. [email protected] about 25 to 40 percent of normal,” he “The elevation is lower than is typical If you have traveled around West Yellowstone said. “It was great to see that change at for this time of year due to the down- recently, you most likely know there is road work Crisp air and storm clouds heralded the beginning of September.” stream flow requirements and below happening around Quake Lake and Raynolds Pass. in the start of September over Labor Day average inflow,” the release states. “Pulse ¢ e construction is three separate projects tied Weekend. Cooler temperatures flows, which help attenuate daily temper- into a single Montana Department of Transportation “We’re on the upswing here,” said Last week’s cooling off benefitted the ature spikes in the lower Madison River contract with Jim Gilman Excavating, Inc., out of Lucas Zukiewicz, water supply specialist area in multiple ways. Though the Upper for fisheries protection, were required Butte, which was awarded the $4,376,956.46 contract with the Natural Resources and Conser- Madison River temperatures are partially 16 days in July and five days to date in in March 2016. vation Service’s Montana Snow Survey. protected by Hebgen Dam and the reser- August.” Along MT Highway 87, beginning at the Mon- “As we move into fall, we’ll start to see voir, Ennis Lake and the Lower Madison During warm weather patterns, He- tana/Idaho border and running to the highway’s junc- more of these types of events in this River were warm. bgen outflow was managed to provide tion with U.S. Highway 287, MDT’s project includes area.” downstream minimum flows and re- milling, paving, seal and cover, digouts, guardrail, Over the weekend mountainous fill Ennis Lake to support pulse flow retaining wall and bridge repairs, according to Bill areas in the Madison River Basin “We’re on the upswing here. requirements for the Lower Madison Fogarty, MDT district construction supervisor. generally received about 1/2 to 1 1/2 River. “Except for seal and cover and § nal pavement inches of precipitation. As we move into fall, we’ll markings; all other work on this project is expected to “September isn’t typically a wet The coming water year be completed in the fall of 2016,” Fogarty said. month, so this seems really good,” start to see more of these Last year was one of the strongest Similar to the Raynolds Pass project, MDT work Zukiewicz said. “For the whole types of events in this area.” El Niños on record, Zukiewicz said. from the junction of MT Highway 87 and U.S. High- month, we usually only get about 2 The Climate Predication Center, way 287 to Quake Lake will include milling, paving, inches.” however, is predicting a weak La seal and cover, digouts, guardrail and signing, Fogarty Though the Ruby River Basin - Lucas Zukiewicz, Niña for the coming year. explained. was not quite as fortunate, Zukie- water supply specialist, NRCS “That generally means cooler “Except for seal and cover and § nal pavement wicz said the mountainous areas in weather and wetter weather,” Zukie- markings, all other work on this project is expected to the Ruby Valley received around 1/2 wicz said. “But since we’re mak- be completed in the fall of 2016,” he said. inch of precipitation. ing the transition from a strong El ¢ e third segment is along Targhee Pass, from U.S. “The Tobacco Root Mountain Range “It was great to see the cooler tem- Niños, we don’t have a lot of experience Highway 20 beginning at the Montana/Idaho border got the most out of that storm,” he added. peratures return and the stream tempera- with what that means.” and extending 9.3 miles east to the town of West Yel- “They got 1 1/2 inch of precip.” tures drop a little,” Zukiewicz said. The good news? Zukiewicz said even lowstone. The cooler temperatures and pre- As of Aug. 18, Hebgen Lake’s eleva- neutral conditions favor Montana’s snow- “Work includes crack seal, seal and cover and cipitation at the start of September was tion was 6,531.89 feet, which is 2.98 feet pack and stream flow, especially com- pavement markings,” Fogarty said. “Work on this “much needed” after August, Zukiewicz below full pool and 1.63 feet above the pared to last year’s warm, dry weather project will be completed in the 2017 construction said. recreation level, according to a North- patterns. season.” Alder Gulch Phase One Improvement Project Rowe said the project turned out “really nice.” Rowe completed construction in June – the idea was to be Reconstruction of dams at kid’s done before July 4 and the busiest part of the year. e construction “We made (the kid’s pond) more kid friendly,” he said. “We put pond, horseshoe pond complete ¢ e dam at the kid’s pond was completed § rst, so it could in § shing points. And a new walking path along the south side serve as an access road from the highway to the mines on the far between the two dams so you can do a full loop without walking A������ D����� side of the ponds – once the kid’s pond dam was completed, work on the road. We built eight § shing points and put rocks around to [email protected] will began on the horseshoe pond dam. landscape.” “We were § ghting winter last year, but when we got back to Last October, Rowe Excavation, Inc., out of Dillon started re- work in the spring everything went twice as fast,” Rowe said. e background constructing the dam at the kid’s pond, which is located between Reconstruction at the kid’s pond took longer than expected In the spring of 2009, a high water event led to ¯ ooding in the Virginia City and Nevada City. A© er installing and stabilizing because Rowe’s crew found an unexpected pipe buried in the Alder Gulch, and the water in the horseshoe pond threatened to a new dam, they moved onto the dam at the horseshoe pond, structure, as well as phone lines. top the dam. ¢ e ¯ ooding was the result of a plugged culvert at located just up the gulch toward Virginia City. “¢ e horseshoe pond was better,” he said. “We had to dig out the horseshoe pond. Now both dams are completed, meaning phase one of the some old pipes, but we knew about them and accounted for them.” Ruby Watershed Coordinator Rebecca Ramsey and the Ruby Alder Gulch Improvement Project is done. ¢ e River of Gold, which runs through Nevada City west of Valley Conservation District got involved and wrote a planning “We just have a little le© to do, putting out reports,” explained the ponds, dried up when the dam was initially § nished. grant to the DRNC, showing how they wanted to address the is- Kelly Rowe, of Rowe Excavation, Inc. “But we’re § nished. ¢ e “We installed a water structure for § re protection for Nevada sue. ¢ en, Ramsey applied for a DNRC grant to create a project to county, city and (Montana Heritage Commission) have some City,” Rowe explained. “When we § lled the leaks in the dam, there remedy the situation. ¢ e $300,000 grant was awarded in 2011. signage to wrap up.” wasn’t any water, but the new (water structure) can be controlled at the dam to let water down there.” Turn to ALDER GULCH on p. A2 With the Visa Prepaid Card, TABLE OF CONTENTS you’ll have a safe and convenient Local News -------A1-3, 5-6 Columns--------------------B3 payment method and enjoy the Opinions--------------------A4 Comics/Games------------B4 comfort of knowing Obituaries-------------A4&A7 Classifi eds------------------B5 Lifestyle--------------------- B1 Public Notices-------------B8 Member you are taking a responsible approach to your spending. Health & Wellness ------- B2 Calendar-------------------B12 FDIC The Visa Prepaid Card offers many benefi ts to support your everyday needs: P.O. Box 417 • Twin Bridges, MT P.O. 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