BRETT FRENCH

bfrench@billingsgazette.com

If the Smith River were a medical patient, its doctors now have in hand a series of studies showing its health problems — higher June water temperatures, reduced water quantity and degraded habitat.

These studies were conducted by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

DEQ examined water quality with a specific focus on what was causing large algae blooms. The agency also established a baseline on major ion and metal concentrations.

FWP has long been sampling fish health and numbers, as well as the impacts of recreation.

“Based on our annual electrofishing efforts, trout populations in the Smith River are relatively stable and fish are generally in good health,” Adam Geik, a fisheries biologist with FWP in Region 4, wrote in an email.

DEQ and FWP are holding a meeting on Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. in White Sulphur Springs’ Meagher County Community Center to discuss ways “DEQ and the public can contribute to a healthier Smith River,” the agency announced in press release.

Prior to the meeting, folks might want to try and digest the DEQ’s two reports — 53 pages looking into problematic algae blooms and 93 pages on its metals study. Both can be found online.

What now?

The next steps are to improve the popular central Montana stream’s health with a list of possible actions — streambank stabilization, woody riparian vegetation restoration and floodplain reconnection, to name a few.

These ideas are outlined in a watershed restoration plan compiled for FWP by Geum Environmental Consulting, a Hamilton-based company, and Slough Creek Consulting Inc. from British Columbia. The executive summary is only six pages long. The DEQ has posted highlights from the research online.

“The assessment was intended to be a practical resource for all stakeholders in the basin,” Geik wrote. “It also satisfies the DEQ and EPA requirements of a Watershed Restoration Plan, which makes it much easier for smaller organizations (NGOs, community groups, etc.) to obtain grant funding for restoration projects.”

Geik noted the restoration plan is mostly informational.

“There is no plan for specific actions that will take place,” he said. “It does identify what restoration actions would be the most beneficial and which areas within the basin would benefit the most from restoration actions.”

Yet FWP is already planning smaller projects on private land on the North Fork and South Fork Smith River, Geik added, using the plan to design work that has “the highest benefit per cost.”

“We’re hoping to work with landowners and community members to do win-win projects that are beneficial for everybody involved,” Geik said. 

Stepping up

One of the nonprofit organizations seeking to improve the watershed’s health is Trout Unlimited and its state and local chapters.

“What our organization is most focused on with these studies, and the future of the Smith River, is the new restoration plan,” said David Brooks, executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited, in an email. “The plan focuses on doing restoration work on private working lands in the upper river, above the recreational floating section, that will improve instream flows and habitat, while reducing sediment and nutrient inputs, as well as making ag and ranching practices more efficient.”

The work is one of many TU projects across Montana. On a more intensive scale, Trout Unlimited has prioritized four watersheds — the Yellowstone headwaters, upper Missouri, Clark Fork and Kootenai basins for a $22 million investment.

Smith River floaters, and applicants for float permits, are helping to fund restoration work, as well as the planning document, Geik said.

“There’s no better way to spend those permit fees, which live in the Smith River Corridor Enhancement Account, than on immediately beginning to identify, plan and implement habitat restoration and instream flow improvements as outlined by this plan,” Brooks said.

Small jewel

In a state known for its iconic waters the Smith River stands out, in part, because of the spectacular country it flows through on its way from Meagher into Cascade county where it dumps into the mighty Missouri River. Coveted by anglers and boaters, the small waterway has carved through steep canyons of limestone on its crooked run from its headwaters in the Little Belt, Castle and Big Belt mountains.

A 59-mile section of the river is a state park where boating between April and July is limited by a permit system. Awarded through an annual lottery, the permits attract up to, or more than, 10,000 applicants. From this pool, 1,000 permits are awarded.

Concerns about the river’s health were heightened in 2015 when algae began sprouting in thick mats. In some places the green growth covered a third of the stream bottom. Between 2018 and 2020, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality began collecting data to isolate the cause.

In 2019, DEQ announced that Cladophora glomerata, also known as blanket weed, was the “dominant filamentous algal species” attaching itself to different sections of the streambed. Increasing water temperatures in June are allowing the algae to flourish.

In hot water

The water is warmer because the air is hotter. Between 1997 to 2020, from May 15 to July 1, the minimum daily air temperature in the Smith River watershed has increased by 3.6 degrees, the DEQ noted.

“Nutrients in the system from the heritage of, and current agriculture and ranching in the upper river, are also no surprise as a contributing factor to algae blooms,” Brooks said.

Also of concern to conservation groups is the large unknown as the Black Butte Copper Project is developed in the Little Belt Mountains, 15 miles north of White Sulphur Springs. Lawsuits attempting to derail the operation failed. The underground mine is being built near Sheep Creek, a tributary to the Smith River. Mine developers Tintina Montana Inc. have touted the operation as state of the art for its engineering of environmental protections. DEQ’s water quality studies will also provide a baseline for the watershed as the mine is developed.

Steps that can be taken to help cool the stream’s waters include adding shade along stretches that have been historically impacted by livestock grazing, mining and recreation. Introducing beavers, as well as altering irrigation, can help recharge groundwater and improve streamflows.

“Restoring the river’s health, building resiliency in the face of changing water patterns, and helping traditional land uses thrive are all possible,” Brooks said. “This report and plan are a good step in that direction.

“It’s definitely time to devote those kinds of resources and attention to the Smith River.”

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Brett French