The war over water in the Flathead and Mission valleys
“My husband and I own a store in Somers which does a $50,000 business a year. This store will be covered with water at 2,910 (elevation). In addition to managing our store, my husband farms 100 acres of land in order to help produce food for our Nation and our armies, and to help produce the increased quotas of food asked from this valley by our Government.
I beg you, gentlemen, to keep the faith of the American tradition and let us live in unmolested peace and happiness in the homes and businesses we have built in this valley.
— Margaret Sliter
(testimony from the hearings before the committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, House of Representatives, 78th Congress, under HR 262)
70 Years this month a war was being waged.
Not only in Europe against Hitler, but here in the Flathead Valley, against a governmental proposal to increase hydroelectric power from Flathead Lake. The proposal would have raised the lake level to 2,910 feet above sea level, as opposed to its standard summer level of 2,893. The additional 20 feet of water would have submerged much of the lower Flathead Valley and homes around Flathead Lake. An uproar ensued, and the proposal to raise Flathead Lake was stopped. Hungry Horse Reservoir was created out of the same proposal to increase hydroelectric power in northwest Montana under the war effort to supply additional power to factories in the West. The proposal called for dredging Flathead Lake 30 feet at the face of Kerr Dam to the U.S. 93 bridge in Polson, raising the dam height, and building an after-bay reservoir below Kerr Dam for additional water storage.
An additional dam, Glacier View Reservoir, would have been placed on the North Fork of the Flathead River. That was never accomplished.
This series takes a look at the early fight over Flathead Lake, and how that fight is being waged today to protect water quality, fisheries, land and habitat.
By David REESE
Bigfork Eagle
The writing was on the wall 12 years after the first fight to save Flathead Lake.
A government proposal that had been kept out of the public in the name of national security was revealed, and the uproar over Flathead Lake helped lead to the creation of the Flathead Lakers, an organization that now enters its 55th year of helping protect Flathead Lake.
The Lakers take a broad educational outreach approach and work with landowners, government entities and policy makers to create consensus and a strong coalition of conservation.
The Lakers’ top efforts recently have been against coal mining in the headwaters of British Columbia, and control of runoff from land-use practices in the Flathead Valley. The latest effort to protect Flathead Lake is through aggressive action over invasive species. These species, such as Eurasian milfoil, curly leaf pondweed and quagga mussels, have the potential to severely damage Flathead Lake, Lakers executive director Robin Steinkraus said.
Governmental regulation has played a key role in the fight against aquatic invasive species. The last two Legislatures have provided additional funding for the war on invasive species, with much of the effort geared toward boat-inspection stations at key areas in Northwest Montana. It’s important that Flathead Lake remains pristine, not only for the people who care for it here, but for our neighbors downstream. “If we get them, they get them,” Steinkraus said.
Invasive species like milfoil and pondweed are being held in check, although they have shown up in a few places along Flathead Lake. They’re in two places near Somers and Lakeside, and Eagle Bend Yacht Harbor has been found to have infestations, according to Steinkraus. “Inspection stations are our best defense,” she said. Work will begin this summer on removing the infestations in Flathead Lake, using scuba divers and underwater vacuums.
Public support to control invasive species has been positive. Education is the key to controlling and preventing the spread. “Most people once they learn about the impacts they want to do everything they can to prevent them,” Steinkraus said. Farmers and homeowners along Flathead River and Flathead Lake are also receptive to the Lakers’ work. “They are all very grateful and want to do the right thing. Often times, they just don’t know what that is,” she said.
Another largescale effort is to provide conservation efforts toward the riparian areas along the Flathead River from Columbia Falls to Flathead Lake. This effort grew out of the rapid development that was taking place in the last 10 years along the river and surrounding aquifer. “When we saw the potential impacts on water quality, we wanted to make sure someone was paying attention,” Steinkraus said. This effort focuses on habitat protection for birds, fish, wetlands and the prime farm soils along the Flathead River. About 5,000 acres of agricultural land have been placed into conservation easements as part of the Lakers’, and others’, efforts along the Flathead River.
Whether it’s coal mining in Canada, septic systems, gravel pit development, or agriculture practices, everything that happens upstream affects Flathead Lake. “The lake is such a resource for us here,” she said. “We have a responsibility to keep it that way for future generations.”
Stopping mountaintop coal mining in British Columbia was a huge victory for conservationists — and the Flathead Lakers. “I never thought it would happen in my lifetime,” Steinkraus said. “That was a major accomplishment.”
Legislation under Senate Bill 255 is pending in Congress now that will protect the North Fork of the Flathead River from further coal or oil development. Laws have already been put in place on the Canadian side of the border, forbidding certain types of development there also. U.S. Sen. Max Baucus and Jon Tester were instrumental in leading the charge on that environmental front. “SB 255 would be the completion on the Montana side,” Steinkraus said.
The Lakers take a big-picture view of the ecosystem and focus in on specific efforts where needed. They are supported financially by a membership of about 1,500 people, plus grants.
The Flathead Lakers were instrumental in drafting an environmental impact statement during the relicensing process of Kerr Dam in the 1980s. That EIS led to millions of dollars being earmarked for conservation efforts to mitigate the effects from the creation of Kerr Dam and Hungry Horse Reservoir.
The Flathead Lakers has long been a grassroots, all-volunteer organization, but that has grown into four employees and a fulltime director. Steinkraus has been executive director for 15 years. She worked at the Flathead Lake Biological Station for six years prior to that.
Even in an area that is fairly anti-government, when it comes to protecting Flathead Lake, most people get on board. “Water quality is something that ranks pretty high in terms of things they want to protect,” Steinkraus said. “To see that clean water is something special. Sometimes we take it for granted, but we do appreciate it.”
The Flathead Lakers have undertaken a new effort to recruit and train volunteers in their outreach work. Volunteers work at boat ramps to help educate boaters about invasive species, or plant trees in riparian areas. “There are always ways people can help,” Steinkraus said. “We all play a role, and we all work together.”
Conservation work often involves large government entities. As an organization that is respected for its work, the Flathead Lakers are able to navigate the maze of bureaucracy and achieve results. “We can often do things a little quicker than the organizations that have to go through the bureaucracy,” Steinkraus said.
With the challenge of protecting Flathead Lake and its watershed, Steinkraus cannot do the job herself, or with her small staff.
Voices of many will be heard.
“Our role is to share information and tell people what it means, and how they can make a difference,” she said. “We are the advocates for the lake.”