Lower Willow Creek Reservoir . Lower Willow Creek 

 Reservoir near Hall provides water to lands in the lower 

 Willow Creek and lower Flint Creek valleys. The reservoir 

 has a limited westslope cutthroat fishery, and fishery 

 potential is poor because of extreme reservoir drawdown and 

 poor water quality. Willow Creek above the reservoir 

 contains a genetically pure strain of westslope cutthroat 

 trout, a "Species of Special Concern" in Montana. 



The Granite County Conservation District has applied for 

 a water reservation to construct another dam upstream from 

 the present reservoir to provide supplemental water for 

 lower Willow Creek and Flint Creek. This new storage 

 facility is not expected to have a significant adverse impact 

 on Clark Fork streamflows but would eliminate local cutthroat 

 stream fishing in the portion of Willow Creek inundated by 

 the new reservoir. 



Lake Como . Lake Como is located on Rock Creek in 

 Ravalli County between Hamilton and Darby. The project is 

 located on the east slope of the scenic Bitterroot Mountains 

 and supplies water for irrigators in the Bitterroot Irriga- 

 tion District. The aesthetic qualities are excellent when 

 the reservoir is full, or nearly so, but decrease with 

 increased drawdowns. With sufficient water, recreational 

 uses include fishing, boating, waterskiing, and swimming. 

 It provides a limited fishery for rainbow and westslope 

 cutthroat trout. The project affects flows into Rock Creek 

 below the dam. A canal one mile below the reservoir diverts 

 the flows released and dries up Rock Creek during the 

 irrigation season. There is adequate flow in most of the 

 stream below the dam only during spring runoff when the 

 project spills. Therefore, the stream provides only a limited 

 rainbow trout fishery, even though the aesthetic qualities of 

 the area are otherwise quite good. 



Other Irrigation Projects 



According to the Montana Registry of Dams, published in 

 1968 by the old Montana Water Resources Board, there are 80 

 dams with reservoirs holding 50 AF or more water in the Clark 

 Fork Basin. These include the large projects previously 

 discussed. Most are privately owned, and many of them lie in 

 the Selway-Bitterroot, Anaconda-Pintlar, and Flint Creek 

 mountain ranges. Table 3-31 lists the number of dams by 

 county and the number used for irrigation. There are also 

 numerous smaller reservoirs (less than 50 AF) throughout the 

 basin used for irrigation, stock water, and fish and 

 wildlife. 



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