Transcript No. 05 - Mark Lere, Habitat Bureau, MFWP

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
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
Miles City
T & Y Diversion
(Rm 20.4)
Map of the Yellowstone River, tributaries, and diversion dams
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 nonnative 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, nonjumping 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)