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Geomorphic Evolution Of The Clark Fork River In Response To The Removal Of Milltown Dam, Douglas John Brinkerhoff, Andrew C. Wilcox

Clark Fork Symposium Archives

The 2008 breaching of Milltown Dam resulted in base-level lowering of 9 m at the dam site and introduced a pulse of fine reservoir sediment into the gravel and cobble-bedded Clark Fork River. Studies of the geomorphic effects of the dam removal have evaluated the volume of material eroded from the Blackfoot and Clark Fork arms of Milltown reservoir, downstream transport and deposition of that sediment, and resulting changes in channel morphology. These efforts have incorporated bedload and bed-material sampling, surveys of topographic change, and aerial photograph analysis. In the first two years following dam breaching, successive peak flows with …

Stream Restoration In Montana--Focus On The Clark Fork, Charles Dalby

Clark Fork Symposium Archives

Stream restoration is currently a multi-billion dollar, nationwide enterprise enjoying the focus of numerous professional organizations, universities, policy, and citizen groups. The challenge of restoring damaged riverine ecosystems has driven interdisciplinary river science and policy as no other contemporary catalyst—but it hasn’t always been that way. The earliest years of restoration, or more appropriately named “fish habitat manipulation” in Montana (and nationwide) evolved from “make-work” programs during the 1930’s depression. Subsequent efforts in the 1960’s and 1970’s drew from that experience and traditional civil engineering, river mechanics. The Rosgen-based enterprise, initiated in the 1980’s, spawned a new geomorphic approach to …

Comparative Analysis Of The Transboundary Flathead And Elk River Basins, Erin K. Sexton

Clark Fork Symposium Archives

The Flathead Basin Commission is one of the last intact ecosystems in North America, with the full complement of carnivores that were in the Basin when Europeans arrived, and with vascular plant diversity exceeding that of the Serengeti. However, the headwaters of the transboundary Flathead is threatened with large scale mining and energy development projects that would forever change the pristine nature of this basin. In 2008, studies were undertaken to compare water quality, aquatic biodiversity and fisheries in the Flathead Basin against the adjacent Elk Basin, which is heavily impacted by five open pit coal mines. To date, the …

Epizootiology Of The Causative Agent Of Salmonid Whirling Disease In The Rock Creek Drainage: 1998-2008, Willard O. Granath, E. Richard Vincent

Clark Fork Symposium Archives

Whirling disease, caused by the myxozoan parasite Myxobolus cerebralis, remains a serious health threat to salmonid fish in the western U.S. Although various aspects of this host-parasite system have been studied, investigations examining the overall epizootiology of whirling disease in an ecosystem are lacking. Therefore, in June 1998, such a study was initiated in the Rock Creek watershed of west central Montana. Parameters examined included assessing the intensity of infection in trout using sentinel cages stationed throughout the drainage and determining the percentage of Tubifex tubifex releasing M. cerebralis at sentinel cage and other localities. Also, habitat and water …

Upper Clark Fork Watershed Restoration And Tmdls, Mark D. Kelley

Clark Fork Symposium Archives

No abstract provided.

2010 State Of The River - Looking Back And Thinking Forward 25 Years, Vicki J. Watson, Chris Brick, Rick Bass

Clark Fork Symposium Archives

Evaluating the State of the Clark Fork River and its Basin requires that we periodically:

1. Assess its condition & compare that to our goals for the basin;
2. Determine whether the basin’s condition is getting better or worse;
3. Evaluate our plans & on-the-ground actions for effectiveness; and
4. Consider challenges that face us in meeting our goals.

Condition and Trends

The basin’s condition in 2008 is compared to its condition in 2004 and 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 …