Low Flows, Hot Trout – Montana Rivers are heating up again this summer

by Merle Ann Loman | Aug 5, 2008 | Clark Fork, Conservation/benefits/organizations, ii Summer

Jack hasn’t been with clients the last few days. He is working on a video project with Trout Unlimited. It has been really hot on the Clark Fork and it made me think about the trout trying to surive in the summer water temperatures. We, at Wapiti Waters, are concerned, especially in the Bitterroot as the flows get lower and lower. Clark Fork Coalition has great information at their website. It includes what we can do, even in our homes, to help. See an excerpt below and visit their website at http://www.clarkfork.org/.

Click here for a free download of their new report, “Low Flows, Hot Trout: Climate Change in the Clark Fork Watershed.” Or, order a hard copy online through the River Store for only $5.

Clark Fork Coaliton text:

We hear about climate change on a daily basis — but it’s often from a global, overarching, far-from-home perspective. So what does it all mean for the Clark Fork basin? This report explores what the future holds for inhabitants of this 22,000-square-mile area and the waterways that define its landscape, culture, and economy.

“Low Flows, Hot Trout” delivers a plain-language synthesis of key findings from years of data-gathering in our watershed blended with anecdotal observations from river basin citizens. We gathered perspectives from realtor to rancher, fishing guide to firefighter. Our report is accessible to the public, informative to those whose livelihoods are directly tied to the river, and illuminating to policymakers looking for effective responses. The bottom line is: things can be done in the face of climate change, and everyone can make a difference– from simple at-home fixes that improve energy and water use to large-scale policy changes that stimulate renewable energy production and river-sensitive growth management. This report gives a snapshot of what we can do to protect our hometown creeks, our local economies, and our celebrated way of life in the
changing climate of the Clark Fork watershed.

We hope “Low Flows, Hot Trout,” will also spark discussion at the upcoming Headwaters Summit: “Re-visioning How We Use Water in the Changing Climate of the Northern Rockies,” sponsored by the Clark Fork Coalition, National Wildlife Federation, and Western Progress. The Summit will be held September 15-17 at the University of Montana, beginning with a keynote address by David James Duncan at 7 PM on September 15th in the University Theater.

If you’d like to schedule an in-person presentation of the report and its findings for your group, please contact Brianna Randall at brianna@clarkfork.org.

Montana Trout Unlimited also has a NEW! Global Warming Report.

As long as we are talking about the Clark Fork River, Milltown Dam has been removed and here is a site serving as a public information resource on the remediation, restoration and redevelopment of the Milltown Reservoir Sediments and Clark Fork River Superfund site.
Clark Fork River Technical Assistance Committee

(C-F-R-TAC).

Safety Reminder
DURING THE MILLTOWN CLEANUP, THE CLARK FORK AND BLACKFOOT RIVERS ARE CLOSED TO RIVER RECREATION ABOVE AND BELOW THE PROJECT AREA.

• Clark Fork River users must exit the river at Turah Fishing Access;
• Blackfoot River users must exit at Weigh Station.

VIOLATORS and TRESPASSERS WILL BE FINED. For more information, contact Montana FWP at 542-5500.