CHAPTER 2 

 CURRENT WATER USES, ACTIVITIES, AND AQUATIC RESOURCES 



The Clark Fork flows through diverse terrain that 

 supports a variety of land uses. Many of these land uses 

 depend heavily on the river system, utilizing surface and 

 ground water for consumptive and nonconsumptive uses. This 

 chapter provides a description of current land and water uses 

 along the mainstem Clark Fork and its major tributaries. The 

 relative benefits and costs of some activities are discussed, 

 although there are limitations on quantifying these benefits 

 and costs. The amount of water in acre-feet (AF) used for 

 different purposes varies considerably among the seven Clark 

 Fork subbasins covered in this report, as illustrated in 

 Table 2-1. This chapter also describes the aquatic resources 

 in the basin, including macroinvertebrates and fisheries. 



MINING 



From the late 1800s until the early 1980s, mining and 

 metal processing industries were the mainstay of the economy 

 in the upper Clark Fork Basin. The largest employer, the 

 Anaconda Minerals Company, shut down its smelter operations 

 in Anaconda in 1980 and its mining operations in Butte in 

 1983. 



The closure of these facilities marked the end of an 

 era, but the recent rise in prices of copper and precious 

 metals has spurred renewed interest in mining throughout the 

 basin. Several companies are now in the exploratory phase, 

 and others have submitted conceptual plans or permit 

 applications to regulatory agencies (see Chapter 4) . A few 

 companies are currently operating in the basin, the largest 

 of which is Montana Resources, Inc., in Butte. 



Montana Resources. Inc. 



MRI purchased most of the Anaconda Minerals Company's 

 Butte holdings in December 1985 and assumed its permits and 

 liabilities for the permitted mine area. MRI began open pit 

 mining of copper and molybdenum in June 1986. It currently 

 employs about 320 people in Butte, and the expected life of 

 the mine is 13.5 years. In the course of the operation, 

 approximately 200 million tons of ore will be processed and 

 80 million tons of low-grade waste rock will be removed from 

 the top of the ore body and placed on permitted waste rock 

 dumps . 



2-1 



