Other drainage features located within the proposed sale area are intermittent, ephemeral and 

 discontinuous in nature. Most of these draws do not contain discemable stream channels. Those 

 features containing streams as defined under the Montana Streamside Management Law and 

 Rules contain only limited reaches of discemable stream channel. Flows from those stream 

 reaches either go subsurface or only occur seasonally in the form of concentrated surface runoff. 

 In either case, the draw bottoms are stable and in good condition. 



Water Quality - Existing Conditions 



Existing impacts to water quality within the project area are primarily associated with 

 accelerated sediment delivery to streams and ephemeral drainage features. Detailed 

 sediment sources surveys were completed for the trust land by a DNRC hydrologist and soil 

 scientist. The purpose of these surveys was to identify and inventory all existing and 

 potential sources of erosion and sediment delivery to streams on the State ownership. 



Access to the proposed timber sale area is provided by existing Granite County, Forest Service, 

 BLM road systems, and various low standard roads and trails located on private and state land. 

 All existing roads on the State's ownership, as well as those proposed for access and timber 

 hauling, were inventoried during the sediment source survey. The conditions of many of the 

 existing roads in the Upper Willow Creek watershed are poor. Many of these roads, including a 

 USFS capital investment road, do not fully comply with Best Management Practices (BMPs). 

 These roads are substandard due to their location, steep sustained grades, unimproved stream 

 crossings, lack of adequate drainage features and lack of general road maintenance. 



Both Beaver Creek and Bear Creek have been impacted by accelerated rates of sedimentation 

 caused by past or existing development activities. The USFS road system traversing these 

 watersheds lacks an adequate number of ditch relief and road surface drainage features. Long 

 reaches of road ditch are routed directly to several stream-crossing sites. This has resulted in 

 delivery of cut-slope; ditch and road surfaces derived sediment directly into the streams. 

 Temporary mitigation measures have been recently installed to address these problems. 

 However, long-term solutions are still pending. The low standard roads and trails on State land 

 within the project area contain several unimproved (drive-through) ford stream crossing. While 

 these crossing are relatively stable and receive only low volumes of vehicle traffic, they still 

 contribute minor levels of sediment delivery to streams. 



Head cut and gully erosion occurring in the irrigation ditch diverting Beaver Creek has resulted 

 in extensive downstream sedimentation in Bear Creek and Upper Willow Creek. This gully has 

 been actively eroding for at least 40 years and continues to impact water quality in Bear Creek 

 and Upper Willow Creek. 



Past and current grazing practices on private land in the watershed have contributed to bank 

 instability and subsequent sediment delivery to Upper Willow Creek. The woody riparian 

 vegetation has been cleared from several long reaches of Upper Willow Creek. 



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