o 

 o 



CO 



O 



D Cuttrhoat 

 ■ Bull 



2003 



2005 



2003 



2005 



Below 



Above 



(Appendix A). This work was conducted in cooperation with the Helena National Forest 



during a period when the diversion was shut down due to water right and downstream 



drought concerns. 



The 2004-05 surveys identified juvenile bull trout use in Snowbank Creek. This 



use was not detected during initial (2003) surveys. We suspect enhanced instream flows 



attracted bull trout in to Snowbank Creek from downstream Copper Creek spawning 



sites, a pattern of use 



observed in other small 



non-bull trout spawning 



tributaries connected to 



similar spawning 



streams. This sampling 



also recorded 



substantially fewer bull 



trout upstream of the 



diversion than below 



the diversion (Figure 



40). These differences 



in catch rates 



demonstrate the barrier 



influence of the 



diversion to juvenile 



bull trout. Sampling 



found comparable 



WSCT densities above and below the diversion, and we observed high densities of YOY 



WSCT in the area of the diversion. We also salvaged wild fish fi"om Snowbank Lake 



during a drawdown period. We identified multiple year classes of wild WSCT during the 



fish rescue as well as low numbers juvenile bull tout, confirming bull trout entrainment 



from the ^, . ^, ^ _,^^^ 



J. . _ Elevation (ft) X 1000 



diversion. The 9 . 



Helena National 



Forest is 



currently 



assessing 



ground-and 



surface water 



hydrology and 



water right 



options in order 



to identify 



corrective 



actions. 



Figure 40. CPUE for native fish above and below the 

 Snowbank Creek diversion, 2003 and 2005. ,, 



* Fish«iy SiHvey Locirtioiis 



g . . *• DiSChM$|« M«4S(H «<l 



<^' Tempei Mm e S«iis<m 



3-' 



StoneiMdU Mtn 



H«a<lwatei s 



P«h Creek 



Boy 



Biooli ' Blown Cunhioat Tioul 



Westsloix CuttlMoat Tio« 



PeieiHiiAl stieam 



Piivote 



Phrni Ci eeh State Priw 



— I I (- 



[linet. 



HeleiM National Forest 



1 1 



Stonewall Creek 



Stonewall 

 Creek, a 2"^ 



4 5 



Stieain mileage 



Figure 41. Longitudinal profile for Stonewall Creek. 



51 



