New Fish Screen in Valley Brings the Total to 32 Screens

After the smoke cleared and before the snow arrived, the Blackfoot Restoration team was able to install a new fish screen in the Blackfoot valley, bringing the total to 32 screens. The new screen is located near Lincoln on an irrigation diversion off the Blackfoot River. The diversion has been in use for decades supplying water to hay fields.

However, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks also discovered that the ditch used to irrigate was also full of native trout. This ditch is located in a very important migratory corridor for native westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout-studies have shown that trout from as far away as 90 miles swim through this reach. We realized quickly that a fish screen on this ditch system would address a significant problem in this reach of river.

The landowner, who owns the diversion, was supportive of this project and so we set to work on a design for a new screen that would ensure they could effectively irrigate while preventing trout from being lost down this ditch.

River Design Group, a consulting firm out of Whitefish, was tasked with the engineering of the project and the agreed upon design for the new screen was a type of screen known as a Farmers Screen. A company out of Oregon (Farmers Conservation Alliance) came up with the model and these screens are designed to sit horizontally within a diversion ditch allowing water to flow over and through the screen while sending trout and debris back to the river. The combination of velocities-or how fast water moves over and through the screen, helps keep the structure clean. One advantage of these screens is there are no moving parts, which should cut down on required maintenance.

In addition to looking for ways to improve management and benefit trout populations, another important part of our program is supporting local economies. Pitman Machining located right here in Seeley Lake has been very instrumental in improving our fish screening program. They have provided and manufactured several different types of screens as well as delivering pipe and building head gates used to control water flows. Pitmans also built the Farmers Screen for this project, the first one in the valley.

We turned the water on when everything was installed this fall and things were working great. We are looking forward to seeing this new screen in action next spring.

A combination of several funding sources made this project possible. They included: Private Landowner, USFWS Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, Bureau of Land Management, WestSlope Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Montana Trout Unlimited, Patagonia World Trout Foundation, Trout & Salmon Foundation and several private Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited donors.

If you are interested in learning more about our restoration program and how to get involved contact us at ryen@montanatu.org and like Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited on Facebook.