2024 Fall Watershed Tour in the Sun River

Overview
70 participants joined us in the Sun River Watershed to celebrate; MWCC’s 10-year anniversary, SRWG’s 30-year anniversary, Terri Nichols’ great work, and local solutions to local problems!
September 18-20, we traveled from Great Falls throughout the Watershed to learn from local partners on how to complete feats of conservation and collaboration. We traveled toward the Sun River headwaters in the Bob Marshall Wilderness for a few days of learning, peer exchanges, local storytelling, and on-the-ground project experiences that demonstrate the unique resource challenges and diverse conservation and partnership strategies implemented by local organizers across the region. With an audience of 70 attendees from across Montana, the event allowed opportunities for participants to connect and learn from practitioners, coordinators, and technical experts.
Background
The Sun River starts as two forks high in the Rocky Mountains among the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The forks flow together above Gibson Reservoir and down into the valleys until it joins the Missouri River at Great Falls. The Sun River Watershed Group has been working to address issues in the Watershed; including water quality, irrigation efficiency, stream bank stability, weed infestations, and more since 1994.
Presentation Summaries
Tour of Black Eagle Dam
On a cold and rainy day before the official start of the Tour, some intrepid participants opted in for a Tour of the Black Eagle Dam. They were able to see how day to day operations are managed by just a small crew, and they were taken to see the control room, facility, and generators. The ability to be within the dam, see the rods connected to the turbines spinning, stand below the penstock tubes and turbines, and hear water move through the system was awe-inspiring. The participants were impressed with the amount of physical work that goes into keeping the dam clear of ice, sediment, and other foreign materials.
Pint Night at Annie’s Tap House
The rain and gloom did not keep attendees from being cheery and bright at Annie’s Tap House for Tour kick-off event! For several hours, Tour attendees mingled among themselves before splitting into groups for a slightly challenging water-themed trivia with water themed music and everything.
NorthWestern Energy Presentation
Shane Etzwiler, Community Relations Manager for North-Central Montana, gave us a hearty welcome, while Jerry Gray, the Hydro Superintendent with NorthWestern Energy, walked us through a presentation on NorthWestern Energy’s Water Quality Program. With 9 of NorthWestern Energy’s 11 dams on the Missouri-Madison River system, their program has a huge impact on the local water systems.
Wadsworth Pond
Wednesday’s gloom gave way to a bright, gorgeous blue sky; perfect Tour weather. This community pond site, impacted by decades of demands on the landscape, was created with levees built to protect West Great Falls from flooding. The park is managed by Great Falls Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the West Great Falls Flood District. Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, and partners like Walleyes Unlimited, host Kids’ Fishing Day here each year. The disc golf course there is new and very popular. And the ideas for improving this pond in the coming years are many!
Muddy Creek Bison Ranch
Down an incised bank at the Big Sky Bison Ranch along Muddy Creek, the Ranch Manager Charlotte Rose spoke about the importance of conservation efforts to the Ranch Owner. The impacts of replacing several old culverts with a bridge in 2019 were clearly demonstrated, as we stood in areas that were previously eroded and had lacked riparian vegetation.
J-Wasteway
Here in this low-lying section of prairie, impacts from return irrigation flows cause large fluctuations in stream flow in both Spring Coulee Creek and a downstream irrigation canal. Those changes in flow directly impact stream erosion but also impact the amount of water passing through the J-Wasteway system without being utilized. Here, Greenfields Irrigation District has implemented a multi-year project to expand the small catchment area and re-regulate those return flows, as Erling Juel presented, to save between 30-50 acre feet of water a year.
Handout provided by Erling Juel
Spring Coulee Farm
This special prairie stream site includes organic alfalfa farming and cattle grazing leases surrounding a thin ribbon of lush riparian vegetation. The conditions we saw on the tour speak to three generations of restoration along the creek, a desire to see the health of the fish and wildlife maintained, and a desire to honor the original stewards of the land in that area. Now, restoration success is continued through owner Marc Lee’s commitment to working with local conservation partners and the Greenfields Irrigation District.
Handout provided by Marc Lee
Big Anniversary Bash
Atop a hill overlooking the city of Great Falls, the Cascade Conservation District’s new office and meeting facility provided the perfect setting for the pinnacle Big Bash celebration of the Tour. Amy and Tracy kicked off the night with a greeting to all attendees while they ate dinner and admired the beautiful items available for the raffle! Representative Russ Miner, House District 19 in Great Falls, joined and shared a few words about the importance of collaboration across conservation groups to get important work done on the ground and how the Legislature needs to support and know about these special efforts.
Amy then recognized and thanked Terri Nichols for 7 years of outstanding work to a resounding round of applause. Terri’s last day with MWCC would be the next day; the last day of the Tour. Then to acknowledge another MWCC change, Amy recognized Aaron Clausen as the new MWCC Board Chair and presented him with the official MWCC gavel.
To cap off the night, the rest of the evening was spent full of joyful chatting, pictures, raffle prizes, and comradery. The moon even made a show boldly rising over the Missouri River!
Lowry (Loweree) Bridge
At this Bureau of Land Management fishing access site on the Sun River, the flow and turbidity of the water tell a story about low summer flows, high sediment loads, and the value of collaborating on shared water management. The recreation site also calls attention to the value of having and understanding the information we gather from water gauges, and staying united in Montana in our efforts to prevent invasive aquatic species from overtaking our waterways.
Arnold Coulee
After a long winding drive along the Pishkun Supply Canal and a short prairie mountain hike, we visited a small coulee supplied by irrigation water flowing and seeping from the canal. Here, Sun River Watershed Group, and partners like the BLM and Montana Conservation Corps, have started a Low-tech Process Based Restoration that is slowing the flow of water and sediment while slowly rebuilding the narrow stream’s bank.
Gibson Reservoir
Almost always low and dry by the fall of each year, Gibson Reservoir captures water flowing from the North and South forks of the Sun River, supplying irrigation, recreation, in-stream flow, and so much more for the communities below. Filling with snowmelt each spring, the reservoir is co-managed by Greenfields Irrigation District and Bureau of Reclamation.
Tour Impacts
- Growing the strength and connectivity of Montana’s watershed network of professionals and landowners across the state and locally in the Sun River.
- Creating a community platform to discuss natural resource issues and collaborative solutions that affect all water users and much of the economy of the Sun River Watershed.
- Elevate the work of local watershed groups, like Sun River Watershed Group, so that the community they serve knows the value and potential of their work.