Diann Ericson and visitors practicing
water quality monitoring techniques.
Swan Ecosystem Center
6887 Hwy 83, USFS Condon Work Center, Condon, MT 59826
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Office:
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406.754.3137 or 406.754.3138 |
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Fax:
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406.754.2965 |
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Email:
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swanec@blackfoot.net |
Copyright 2008 Swan Ecosystem Center. All rights reserved.
Clear, cold waters emerge from the Mission Mountains and the Swan Range and flow through the 410,000-acre Swan River watershed joining the Flathead River and eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia River. The Swan Valley holds more surface water than any other Montana watershed; 16 percent of the land is wet. Water collects in hundreds of pot holes, ponds, lakes, marshes and wetlands, and a 1,300-mile network of streams transports water through the valley. These wet areas and streamsides provide significant high quality habitat for native fish and wildlife and clean water for humans.
Maintaining Water Quality
The
Technical Advisory Group
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in 2004 completed a water quality study for the Swan Lake watershed. DEQ then published the "Water Quality Plan and TMDLs for the Swan Lake Watershed" available at www.deq.state.mt.us. With a grant from DEQ, Swan Ecosystem Center formed the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) made up of representatives of the agencies and organizations involved with protecting water quality in the watershed. The TAG meets periodically at Swan Ecosystem Center to prioritize and plan annual monitoring and restoration in the watershed based on DEQ's recommendations.
Swan Lake:
Water quality in
Swan River and Tributaries:
- Temperature gauges installed each summer at key locations on the Swan River and its tributaries to establish baseline conditions and track changes over time.
- Aerial photos taken of the Swan River in 2005 that will be compared with photos taken periodically in the future to track channel movement within the river flood plains.
- Stream cross-sections established in 2005 that will be re-measured periodically to evaluate changes in channel geometry over time.
Road Restoration:
A key element of the restoration plan is to reduce sediment delivery to streams from roads. Land managers are working to achieve this goal. The TAG partners in 2006 reduced sediment delivery to streams from the Cold and Jim lakes roads by approximately 33 tons. Approximately 25 drainage dips and two cross-drains that course water away from the creek were installed.
Additional road repair in the Cold, Elk and Glacier Creek basins to reduce sediment runoff was completed in August 2008.
State of the Swan
The State of the Swan report is a compilation of monitoring and restoration activities occurring in the Swan Lake watershed on lands managed by the Forest Service, Montana DNRC and Plum Creek Timber. The report will be available in late 2008. It will help the TAG prioritize and plan projects to protect water quality in the watershed.
How you can help protect water quality
- Maintain and restore native vegetation.
- Maintain native vegetation on stream banks.
- Leave wetlands intact. Resist modifying wetlands to make ponds or meadows.
- Create native riparian buffers between streambanks and lawns or other landscaping.
- Build homes and structures on high ground far from lakeshores and streams and above the 100-year flood plain.
- Give streams room to move laterally within their banks. Avoid obstructing a stream's natural path.
- Fence stock away from waterways.
- Keep fertilizers, herbicides and pollutants away from streams and wetlands.
- Install septic systems outside riparian areas and the flood plain.
- When boating, reduce shoreline erosion to lakes by observing the 200-foot-from-shore. No Wake rules.
The Elk Creek Monitoring Group of home-schooled students is monitoring water quality on Elk Creek and entering the data on the Montana Watercourse Web site, www.mtwatercourse.org. In 2006 students helped the Forest Service with a restoration project on the shore of Holland Lake. They also helped reconnect wetlands that had been severed by a road in the Beaver Creek area. Swan Valley and Salmon Prairie Elementary School students also monitor water quality in Swan Valley streams each year.