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MONTANA UPDATE. Mark Lere, Habitat Bureau Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks . WHAT WE DON’T HAVE. SCREEN LAWS SCREEN SHOPS SPECIFIC FUNDING (Mitchell Act) ANADROMOUS FISH NMFS OVERSIGHT . WHAT WE DO HAVE. SOME NEEDS! A FEW EXAMPLES …. UPPER BIG HOLE RIVER.
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MONTANA UPDATE Mark Lere, Habitat Bureau Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
WHAT WE DON’T HAVE • SCREEN LAWS • SCREEN SHOPS • SPECIFIC FUNDING (Mitchell Act) • ANADROMOUS FISH • NMFS OVERSIGHT
WHAT WE DO HAVE • SOME NEEDS! A FEW EXAMPLES….
UPPER BIG HOLE RIVER • Home to the last fluvial arctic grayling population in the contiguous United States • Has very robust Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Program • One main goal of the CCAA is to eliminate entrainment into irrigation systems • Supports traditional agriculture – most rely on flood irrigation for hay crops, thus numerous diversions Photo by Mark Conlin
Miles City T & Y Diversion (Rm 20.4) Map of the Yellowstone River, tributaries, and diversion dams with approximate river miles (Rm). YELLOWSTONE RIVER • Series of 6 low head diversion dams • Hinder or block upstream fish passage for numerous warm water species of fish, including pallid sturgeon , paddlefish, sauger, blue sucker………. • The diversions entrain lots of fish
INTAKE DIVERSION • 1,300 cfs diversion • Passage barrier to most fish species • Entrainment estimates for Intake diversion range from 50,000 to 350,000 fish per month • Recently screened, but passage remains a BIG issue
BULL TROUT & CUTTHROAT TROUT • Losing native trout species to entrainment • Losses commonly not well quantified • Diversions typically have not been prioritized • Most screen and passage projects are opportunity based • Federal strings occasionally drive projects
NON-NATIVE SPORT FISH • Also have concerns about entrainment of our non-native sport fish • Typically rainbow trout and brown trout
WHAT WE ARE DOING - SCREENS • Installed a variety of screens • Infiltration galleries • Simple passive horizontal screens • Passive inclined plane screens • Turbulent fountains • FCA screens • Rotary drum screens • Vertical flat plate screens • Traveling belt screens • Efforts not centralized • Not all meet NMFS criteria
FISH SCREENS • Scale of Screen Projects • From small to very large • A majority of our installed screens are around 20 cfs or less.
WHAT WE ARE DOING – FISH PASSAGE • Many passage projects completed across the state • From projects for our stronger swimming and jumping fish in the west • To our weak swimming, non-jumping fish in the east
WHAT WE ARE DOING - BARRIERS • At times, it appears that we have a split personality disorder • Migration barriers are being used to isolate our native cutthroat trout from non-natives (rainbow trout, brook trout, and brown trout)