An inventory of irrigation structures in the Upper Clark Fork River Drainage, Montana : 2010 annual progress report

2010·9.8 MB·English

by  Schreck, Will,author

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631.7
F2IIS
2010
AnInventoryofIrrigationStructuresintheUpperClarkFork
RiverDrainage,Montana
2010AnnualProgressReport
USFWSAgreementNumber-601818J270
WillSchreck,RyanKreiner,BradLiermann,andJasonLindstrom
MontanaFish,WildlifeandParks
MontanaStateLibrary
3 0864 1006 2563 4
Coverphotograph:Irrigationditch(divertedfromLostCreek,MontanaatRM7.6)on
privategrazinglandnearWarmSprings,Montana.
1
TableofContents
Introduction 4
Methods 6
IrrigationStructures 6
FishSampling 6
TemperatureandDischargeMonitoring 7
RadioTelemetry 8
InventoryResults 9
RanchCreek 9
StonyCreek 10
BeaverCreek 1
RockCreek 12
WestForkRockCreek 13
RossForkRockCreek 14
MiddleForkRockCreek 16
EastForkRockCreek 17
HarveyCreek 22
SouthForkLowerWillowCreek 23
GirdCreek 24
BoulderCreek 24
GoldCreek 26
ClarkForkRiver 30
CottonwoodCreek 31
DempseyCreek 34
RacetrackCreek 35
LostCreek 37
WarmSpringsCreek 38
StormLakeCreek 39
BrownsGulch 40
Summary 41
RadioTelemetryResults 44
FutureProjects 45
LiteratureCited 46
3
.
Introduction
AgricultureisaprevailingeconomicpresenceinthewesternUnitedStates. InMontana
alone,themarketvalueofagricultureisnearly$2billionperyear(Christensen2005).
GiventhearidnatureofMontanasummers,itisoftennecessarytodivertwaterfrom
riversandstreamstosupportagriculture. Theoperationofirrigationstructuressuchas
ditchescanhavedramaticeffectsonthehealthofthesesystemsbyentrainingresident
fishesandde-wateringthestreamchannel. InwesternMontana,nativefishessuchas
westslopecutthroattroutOncorhynchusclarkilewisiandthefederallythreatenedbull
troutSalvelinusconfluentusarelikelyathighriskforentrainmentintoirrigationditches
duetotheirmigratorylifehistories. Thesespeciesareespeciallyatriskaspost-spawn
adultsandjuvenilesout-migratingfromspawningorrearingtributaries(Bahn2007).
Also,duetothethermalsensitivityofbulltroutandwestslopecutthroattrout,elevated
streamtemperaturesaccompanyingchannelde-wateringarelikelytoimpactthese
species.
In2009,MontanaFish,Wildlife&Parks(MFWP)receivedagrantfromtheU.S.Fish
andWildlifeService(USFWS)onbehalfoftheFisheriesRestorationandIrrigation
MitigationAct(FRIMA)tosurveytheUpperClarkForkRiverBasin'sirrigation
systems. Theobjectivesofthisstudywereto:
1 InventorydiversionsonprioritizedtributariesintheUpperClarkForkRiver
Basintoaidinthedevelopmentoffishpassage/screeningplans.
2. Providerecommendationsforsite-specificpassageandentrainmentsolution
optionsforprioritizedstreams.
3. Design,plan,andimplement,asappropriate,identifiedfishpassageandscreening
projectsasfundsbecomeavailableviatheacceptedFRIMAproposalandranking
processand/orfromotherfundingsources.
TheareachosenforthisstudyincludestheClarkForkRiveranditstributariesfromthe
headwatersofSilverBowCreekdownstreamtoitsconfluencewithRockCreeknear
Clinton,MT(Figure1). ThisincludesmajoragriculturalregionssuchastheDeerLodge
andFlintCreekvalleys,aswellastheRockCreekvalley,whichislessimpactedby
agricultureandirrigation,butcontainshighpopulationsofnativefishspeciessuchasbull
troutandwestslopecutthroattrout. Irrigationstructuresinventoriedforthisstudywere
chosenbasedontheirpresumedimpactontheoverallClarkForkRiverfishery,aswellas
theirsuspectedentrainmentofnativefishspecies.
Thisreportincorporatesdatacollectedintensivelyin2009and2010,aswellaspast
samplingeffortsfrom2007and2008. Thisreportisassembledinasimilarmannertothe
AnnualProgressReportsubmittedin2009,includingaprioritizationlistofcritical
diversions.
Figure1. SurveylocationswithintheUpperClarkForkRiverBasinbyyear.
Methods
IrrigationStructures
Briefdescriptionsofthediversionandheadgatestylesobservedateachlocationwere
recorded. Thisinformationwillbeusefulforfutureplanningandmitigation. Duringthis
inventorycommondiversionstylesincludedgravelandboulderbermsorpinandplank
structures,andcommonheadgatestylesincludedWatermanC-10slidegates,Waterman
R-5slidegates,andwoodengateswithstopboards(SeeMDNRC2001). WatermanC-10
headgatesareprefabricatedmetalstructures,adjustablewithscrew-downgates,andR-5
headgatesaresimilarinconstruction,butareunabletoseal,thereforeallowingleakage
pastthegatewhenclosed.
FishSampling
Electrofishingwasusedtocollectfishesatthesamplesites. Thefocuswastoobtain
informationonthecompositionoffishspeciesentrainedintheditches. Inmost
situations,asingle100m(unlesslengthrestrictedbyde-wateringoraccess)
electrofishingpasswasperformed. Thisprovidedinformationonspeciescomposition,
lengthfrequency,andcatch-per-unit-effort(CPUE). Mostditcheswereelectrofishedfor
100mdownstreamfromtheheadgate. Atseveralsites,thehighturbidityintheditch
resultedinpoorvisibilityanditwasmoreeffectivetosampleinanupstreamdirection.
Intheseinstances,eitherablocknetwasplacedattheupstreamendofthesectionanda
singleupstreampasswasmade,ortheheadgatefunctionedasabarrierandnoblocknet
wasinstalled. Oncertainditchesmultipleelectrofishingsectionswereselectedfarther
downstreamtofurtherdocumententrainment. Additionally,inditchesexpectedto
containhighdensitiesofentrainedfish,multiple-passdepletionswereconductedto
generatefishpopulationestimateswithconfidenceintervals. Inthesesituations,block-
netswereused,multiplepassesweremadethroughthesection,andcapturedfishwere
removedandplacedasideinlive-cars. Afterallpasseswerecompleted,thefishwere
measuredandpopulationestimateswerecalculatedusingthemaximumlikelihood
estimatorprovidedbyMontanaFish,Wildlife&Parks'FA+fisheriesanalysissoftware.
FisheswerecollectedwithaSmith-RootLR-24Electrofisher. Ateachsite,capturedfish
wereidentifiedtospecies,weighed,measuredandreleased. Allfishdatawererecorded
onstandardMFWPelectrofishingdatasheetsusingMFWPspeciesabbreviations. These
abbreviationsarealsousedinthetablespresentedintheresultssection. Belowarethe
abbreviationsandthespeciestheyrepresent.
BULL=bulltrout
EB=brooktroutSalvelinusfontinalis
LCSU=largescalesuckerCatostomusmacrocheilus
LL=browntroutSalmotrutta
LNSU=longnosesuckerCatostomuscatostomus
LNDC=longnosedaceRhinichthyscataractae
MWF=mountainwhitefishProsopiumwilliamsoni
ONC=unidentifiableOncorhynchusspecies
RB=rainbowtroutOncorhynchusmykiss
RSSH=redsideshinerRichardsoniusbalteatu
SLCOT=slimysculpinCottuscognatus
SU=suckerspecies
WCT=westslopecutthroattrout
DataSummary
Fisherydatawassummarizedbyspeciesandincludedthenumberoffishcapturedcatch-
per-unit-effort(CPUE)ordepletionestimates(standardizedtonumberoffishper100m),
meanandrangeoffishlengths,andpercentspeciescomposition. Tablesdisplayingthis
informationwereassembledforeachditchsampled. Additionally,length-frequency
histogramswereconstructedforspecieswith>5individualscollectedperditchto
illustratelengthdistributions. Thesedataareprovidedasanappendix(AppendixA). For
thepurposeofthisreport,ditcheswerenamedfortheapproximaterivermile(RM)
locationofthediversionandheadgateorthewateruser. Photographsweretakenofmost
ofthediversionstructuresandditches(AppendixB). Fishpopulationdataforstreams
discussedinthisreportweretakenfromLindstrometal.2008,Liermannetal.2009,or
unpublishedelectrofishingdatacollectedin2009.
Inmostditches,notallslimysculpinandothernon-salmonidspecies(e.g.,longnose
sucker,largescalesuckerandlongnosedace)werecapturedorenumerated. Thus,these
specieswerecategorizedasrare,commonorabundant. Specieswith1-10individuals
wereconsideredrare,11-50individualsconsideredcommon,and>51individuals
consideredabundant. Thepresenceofan"R"inthetablesofthisreportsignifiesthe
specieswasrare,a"C"signifiescommonandan"A"signifiesabundant.
AttheendoftheElectrofishingResultssection,allditchessampledweresummarized
andgivenanentrainmentrating(Table24). Thisentrainmentratingwasbaseduponthe
numberoffishentrainedintheditch,withnativespeciesreceivinghigherpriority. The
entrainmentratingscoresusedinthisreportwerelow,medium,andhigh.
TemperatureandDischargeMonitoring
Sincethediversionofwaterforirrigationmayimpactdownstreamwatertemperatures,
streamtemperaturesweremonitoredinseveralstreamschosenforthisstudy. In2007
and2009,oneormorethermographsweredeployedinthetargetdrainages(ONSET
ComputerCorp,Model:HOBOWaterTempProV2). Tomostaccuratelydeterminethe
effectsofde-wateringonstreamtemperature,thermographsweredeployedinsome
streamsbothaboveandbelowmajordiversions. Incertainstreamshowever,onlyone
thermographwasdeployed,generallynearthemouthofthestream,belowalldiversions.
TemperaturesweremeasuredindegreesCelsius(°C)everyhalfhour,withtemperatures
above15°Cconsideredharmfultobulltroutandwestslopecutthroattrout(Behnke
2002). ResultsaredisplayedinAppendixC.
Atseverallocations,streamdischargewasmeasuredusingaMarsh-McBirneyflowmeter
andatopsetwadingrod. Whenfeasible,dischargewasmeasuredintheditchandthe
adjacentstream. Meanvelocitieswereobtainedovera20secperiodusingthefixed
pointaverage(FPA)settinganddischargewascalculatedascubicfeetpersecond(cfs).
Inthesummerof2010,acrewworkingforMontanaTroutUnlimited(TU),contractedto
inventoryirrigationdiversionswithintheUpperClarkForkRiverdrainage,collected
manyofthemeasurementsinPowellandDeerLodgecounties. Thesedischarge
estimatesweresummarizedinareportsubmittedtotheWatershedRestorationCoalition
(WRC)oftheUpperClarkForkinwinter2010,andseveralwereincludedinthisreport
(TUandWRC2010).
RadioTelemetry
InApril2009,aradiotelemetryprojectwasinitiatedwithintheUpperClarkForkRiver.
ThisstudyconsistedoftaggingtroutcapturedfromthemainstemClarkForkand
observingtheirmovementsthroughoutthesystem(MayfieldandMcMahon2010). Fish
speciesselectedfortagginginthisstudywereroughlyproportionaltooverallspecies
compositionintheClarkForkRiver. In2009,100troutcomprisedof72browntrout,15
westslopecutthroattrout,6suspectedwestslopecutthroat/rainbowtrouthybrids,6
rainbowtrout,and1bulltroutwereimplantedwithradiotags. In2010,anadditional149
troutweretagged. The2010fishconsistedof104browntrout,33westslopecutthroat
trout,6cutthroat/rainbowtrouthybrids,3bulltroutand3rainbowtrout. Threeofthe
objectivesforthisstudyaretoidentify1)criticalspawningandrearinghabitat,2)
possibleimpedimentstobothup-anddownstreamfishmigration,and3)possible
limitingfactorsandcausesofmortalitytotroutintheUpperClarkForkRiver. Any
resultsfromthetelemetrystudypertinenttothisproject'sobjectivesaredisplayedinthe
RadioTelemetryResultssectionofthisreport. Thetelemetrystudywillcontinueuntil
thewinterof2011.
InventoryResults
RanchCreek
RanchCreekisatributarytoRockCreekandentersthedrainageatapproximatelyRM
11.5(Figure1). Theentireupperportionofthecreekislocatedonlandsadministeredby
theLoloNationalForest. Mostofthelowerportionrunsthroughprivatelandwiththe
exceptionoftheU.S.ForestService(USFS)campgroundlocatedneartheconfluenceof
GrizzlyCreek. Landuseonthelowercreekislimitedtoafewprivateresidencesand
smallhorsepastures. Throughpastelectrofishingsurveys,nativewestslopecutthroat
troutandbulltroutareknowntoinhabitRanchCreek. MigratorybulltroutfromRock
CreekarealsoknowntospawninRanchCreek.
Twosmall(<2CFS)ditchesdrawwaterfromRanchCreekonitslowerend,belowthe
GrizzlyCreekcampground(Figure1). Electrofishingsurveyswerecompletedinthese
ditchesinAugust2009and2010,withallsectionsmeasuring100minlength. Theupper
ditch,locatedatRM1.1,isoutfittedwithametalR-5styleheadgateandwaterisdiverted
intothisditchbyagravelberm(AppendixB). Twosectionsonupperditch(RM1.1)
weresampled,oneneartheheadgateandoneapproximatelyonemiledownstreamat
NortonUSFScampground. In2009,atotalof11fishwerecapturedbelowtheheadgate
oftheupperditch(Table1,AppendixA). Eightofthesefishwerewestslopecutthroat
trout,alongwithtwobrooktroutandonebrowntrout. Slimysculpinwerealsopresent
butrareinthissection. Nofishwerecapturedinthelowersectionofthisditchnearthe
Nortoncampground. In2010,atotalof26fishwerecollectedbelowtheheadgateofthe
upperditch,comprisedoffourteenwestslopecutthroattrout,fourbrowntrout,four
unidentifiableOncorhynchusspp,threebrooktroutandonerainbowtrout. In2010,
slimysculpinwereabundantinthissection. Againin2010,nofishwerecapturedatthe
lowersectiononthisditch(Nortoncampground). Thelowerofthetwoditches,located
atRM0.1,hasnoformalheadgate,butwaterentersthisditchfromasidechannelon
RanchCreek. Onbothoccasionsthelowerditch(RM0.1)wassampledbelowitspoint
ofdiversionneartheNortoncampground. In2009,fivewestslopecutthroattroutwere
collectedalongwithtwobrooktrout(Table1,AppendixA). Slimysculpinwerealso
abundantinthesection. In2010,tenbrowntrout,eightbrooktrout,threeOncorhynchus
species,andonerainbowtroutwerecollected(Table1,AppendixA). Slimysculpin
wereagainabundant.
Althoughnobulltroutwereobservedintheseditchesin2009or2010,pastresearch
foundatleastonehasbeenentrainedintheirrigationditchesonlowerRanchCreek.
Approximatelytenyearsago,aradio-taggedadultbulltroutwasentrainedinthelower
ditch(RM0.1)duringaradiotelemetrystudyandpresumablydiedintheditch(radio
taggedfishmademovementsintheditchbuttheradiotransmitterwaslaterrecoveredin
theditch-BradLiermann,MontanaFish,WildlifeandParks,personalcommunication).
Table1. Electrofishingdatacollectedduring2009and2010inditchesonRanchCreek.
Ditch Year Species Number Fishper Mean Length Species
Name Sampled ofFish 100m Length Range Comp
(Section) Captured (CPUE) (mm) (mm)
RM1.1 2009 WCT 8 8 121 78-187 73
(Headgate) LL 1 1 96 96 9
EB 2 2 83 50-115 18
2010 WCT 14 14 95 35-161 54
LL 4 4 86 46-135 15
ORNBC 41 41 7870 717-792 145
EB 3 3 132 115-163 12
SLCOT A - - - -
RM1.1 2009 NO FISH „ _ _ _
(Norton)
2010 NO FISH - - - -
RM0.1 2009 WCT 5 5 91 78-112 71
(Headgate) EB 2 2 163 133-193 29
SLCOT R - - - -
2010 LL 10 10 138 78-180 45
RB 1 1 130 130 5
ONC 3 3 58 32-109 14
EB 8 8 157 124-235 36
SLCOT A - - - -
DischargewasmeasuredwithinbothditchesandupstreamoftheupperditchatRM1.1
inmainstemRanchCreekonAugust10,2010. TheditchatRM1.1wasreceiving1.2
cfs,approximately4%ofthemainstemdischargeat28.6cfs. TheditchatRM0.1near
themouthofRanchCreekwasreceiving0.8cfs,approximately3%oftheremaining
mainstemdischarge(estimatedat27.4cfs).
StonyCreek
StonyCreekisatributarytoRockCreekandentersthedrainageatapproximatelyRM
38.4(Figure1). RoughlyonemileoflowerStonyCreekflowsthroughprivateland,
whileupperStonyCreekflowsthroughNationalForestland. ForestRoad241(FR241)
followsthelowercreekfornearlyfivemiles,whiletheremainderofthedrainageis
roadless. FishpopulationsinupperStonyCreekarecomprisedentirelyofnative
westslopecutthroattroutandbulltroutandamixofnativeandnon-nativespeciesare
presentinthelowerportionofthedrainage. Pastelectrofishingsurveysfoundnon-native
browntroutandrainbowtroutinlowerStonyCreek,withvisualevidenceof
hybridizationbetweenwestslopecutthroattroutandrainbowtrout(Liermannetal.2008).
10