Valiton Ditch Split Season Lease
In summer 2024, after years of work toward a diversion reduction agreement and a 20-year split-season water…
Our Work
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Broken Circle Diversion UpgradeHistorically, Broken Circle Ranch rebuilt their irrigation diversion every summer using broken concrete and streambed material, which resulted in passage issues for fish and recreationists. In 2023, the ranch worked with the Coalition to install an innovative floating… -
Thermal Mapping of the Upper ClarkProfessor Raja Nagisetty and environmental engineering graduate student Meggie Olsen at Montana Tech, along with several other collaborators, completed a series of drone flights on the upper Clark Fork River to study thermal refugia… -
Stonewall CreekWe permanently acquired 5 cfs of water rights that reconnect Stonewall Creek to the Blackfoot River year round. The creek supports native westslope cutthroat and brown trout. -
Keep Cool CreekWe permanently acquired 5 cfs of water rights that reconnect Keep Cool Creek to the Blackfoot River year round. -
Poorman CreekWe permanently acquired 18 cfs of water rights that reconnect Poorman Creek to the Blackfoot River year round. -
West Fork Lee Creek Road Decommissioning and Fish Passage -
Granite Creek RestorationTo improve fish passage and reduce chronic stream sedimentation, we upgraded eight undersized culverts along Granite Creek Road. We also installed wood jams in the creek and reclaimed more than ten miles of unneeded forest roads. These projects decrease sedimentation, improve habitat connectivity, and increase the number of fish living… -
East Fork Lolo Creek RestorationOn the East Fork Lolo Creek, we installed wood jams into the stream to create complex aquatic habitat and help filter and trap sediment. We also re-naturalized unused forest roads to decrease sources of sediment washing into the stream. Clark Fork Coalition has worked in the Upper Lolo… -
Lost Horse Creek MonitoringThe Clark Fork Coalition is currently working with the irrigation districts on Lost Horse Creek to monitor flows in the ditches to better understand the water balance on the creek. We are also conducting synoptic flow studies on 3 of the major ditches to assess seepage losses. CFC is also…