DUNCAN ADAMS
Severe drought adds substantial stress to the already imperiled aquatic life in the upper Clark Fork River. Streamflows drop and temperatures rise. Algae blooms deplete dissolved oxygen.
In such circumstances, cold water becomes a hot commodity.
On Wednesday, Butte-Silver Bow County and the state’s Natural Resource Damage Program, or NRDP, announced an agreement designed to boost flows in Warm Springs Creek and the upper Clark Fork River. The creek is a headwaters tributary to the river.
Starting July 11, NRDP will pay Butte-Silver Bow to pump releases from Silver Lake of about 32 cubic feet per second of water continuously for 47 days into Warm Springs Creek.
Silver Lake, a deep lake just east of Georgetown Lake, is in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County.
Montana Trout Unlimited helped facilitate the agreement.
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In a news release, Christy Clark, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife