Message from the Chair
Dear Members of the Legislature and Governor Schweitzer:
On behalf of the Flathead Basin Commission, I am pleased to provide you with this report on our accomplishments over the past two years.
The FBC was awarded over $1 million in grant funding from a variety of state, federal, and private sources to implement watershed restoration and pollution reduction and education projects in the Flathead. These projects have produced many benefits. They have restored riparian habitats, improved water quality in streams such as Ashley Creek, informed residents on methods to mitigate their own water quality problems, and strengthened the Commission’s ability to work with other partners and local residents. The Commission continues to use non-regulatory solutions to water quality problems.
The prospect of a large-scale coalmine at the same Cabin Creek coal site in headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead of BC once again became a hot issue in the Flathead. A similar issue rose two decades ago that led to the creation of the FBC. The FBC took the lead in informing the public and policy-makers about the potential concerns associated with the construction of this coal mine. Thanks in part to our cordial, working relationship with the provincial government of BC, the province decided against moving forward with this new coal mine. However, the threats of new coalmines and coalbed methane developments in the Flathead of BC still exist and still can impact Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks and the Flathead Basin. The Commission will continue to be diligent and to work closely with the Governor’s office, our Congressional Delegation and the U.S. State Department to ensure that the water quality and the many special amenities of the Flathead are protected.
Our plans for the upcoming biennium are even more ambitious than this past one. The FBC hired Mel Lehman as the first dedicated Executive Director in the history of the organization. Initial funding for Mr. Lehman’s position has been provided by a Local Empowerment Program grant from the Montana Association of Conservation Districts. Mr. Lehman brings a wealth of private sector experience to the job, including a wide range of technical and management skills that will greatly enhance the FBC’s ability to achieve a higher level of effectiveness.
We look forward to working closely with the Montana Legislature to ensure the existence of the FBC. SB 138, which permanently attaches the Commission to DNRC, has passed the Senate and has been transferred to the House. It ensures that the FBC will be able to continue working to protect and monitor water quality in this very special place. Our request is fully detailed in our Recommendations to the Legislature on the following pages.
During this time of unprecedented growth in the Flathead, the efforts of the FBC are needed now more than ever. Improving, protecting and monitoring water quality are directly linked to the Flathead’s economic and social well-being. The Commission will continue working with local governments and its citizens, to ensure this vital resource receives the full attention it deserves.
Sincerely,
Rich Moy, Chair
Flathead Basin Commission
Basin Growth and Population Trends
Population growth and associated development activities in the Flathead continued at a record setting pace during the past two years.
Flathead County’s population now exceeds 80,000 and at the current rate of growth could top 100,000 in just five years. Between April 1, 2000 and July 1, 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that Flathead County’s population grew at a rate of 6.7%, far outstripping the rate of 1.7% for the state as a whole. In 2003, the Bureau’s estimate of Flathead County’s population was 79,485.
Lake County’s population growth rate for the same period was 2.6%. The county had an estimated population of 27,197 in 2003.
A closer examination of some of the growth-related statistics provides insights on how such rapid development might influence water quality. In 2004, for the second year in a row, Flathead County was the top residential construction market in the state. In that year, the county registered 160 subdivisions, totaling 1,547 lots and 2,256 acres. New single-family home starts in 2004 totaled 1,136, while 884 septic permits were issued.
Population statistics alone don’t capture the dynamic nature of growth and development in the basin or the potential impact on water quality. For instance, a disproportionately high level of growth is occurring in rural areas of both counties, often in areas lacking such infrastructure as paved roads and integrated wastewater treatment facilities, as is evidenced by a proliferation of septic permits in recent years. Between 1980 and 2000, the population of Flathead County’s three incorporated cities – Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Whitefish – increased 31% while the population growth outside of city limits increased 50%. Between 1970 and 2000, the county’s population density had almost doubled to 14.6 people per square mile.
The trend toward growth in rural areas raises a number of water quality concerns. A proliferation of subdivision activity in the valley floor in areas with shallow aquifers poses the danger of groundwater contamination. While living next to lakes, rivers and streams has strong appeal, and development in such areas in the basin has been on the upswing in recent years, the potential for harmful influences on water quality are considerable. Project designs should include adequate setbacks, use of native vegetation in buffer zones, mechanisms for dealing with surface runoff, and implementation of a variety of landowner Best Management Practices, among other recommended techniques.
Sources: The U.S. Census Bureau, Tri-City Planning Office, Flathead County Planning Office, Flathead Gauges 2003.
Bi-Lateral Relations
Fostering a cordial and productive relationship with neighboring British Columbia has been a priority of the FBC since its founding. The headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead River represent the least developed and most pristine and environmentally complex watershed shared by the United States and Canada. Maintaining the high level of water quality that flows into Montana from B.C. has been and remains a concern of the FBC. The creation of the FBC by the Montana Legislature in 1983 was directly related to concerns about the possibility of large-scale coal mining in B.C. near the headwaters and the threats to water quality such activity might pose. Over two decades later, the prospect of coal mining in the B.C. reach of the North Fork remains an issue of ongoing concern.
In the spring of 2004, Montana learned of plans for a new coal-mining venture at Cabin Creek, the same site that had been the focus of controversy in the late 1970s. Working with a wide range of agency and NGO partners, the FBC conducted an informational forum on the issue and passed a resolution (see page 14) calling for an assessment of potential impacts of proposed developments in the Flathead River Basin by the International Joint Commission (IJC), the U.S.-Canadian organization that investigates and arbitrates border disputes involving natural resource issues.
The FBC also worked closely with the Governor of Montana, the Montana congressional delegation, the U.S. Secretary of State, and provincial and federal officials in Canada to press for an environmental assessment that would address the effect of large-scale industrial activity on both sides of the border in the North Fork drainage. Although the IJC has yet to act on this request, the FBC and others continue to work to achieve such an action.
Late in 2004, a Canadian firm received permission to remove coal samples from a potential mine site further up the drainage. The FBC and others are monitoring this proposal and have raised concerns to their B.C. counterparts.
The coal issue not withstanding, progress is being made on cross-border communications and cooperation on a wide range of issues. The BC/MT Environmental Cooperative Arrangement, signed by then Montana Governor Judy Martz and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell in 2003, has not been implemented but may be soon, thanks to an initiative by new Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. A proposed Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) would activate the agreement, allowing for a higher and more effective level of communication between BC and Montana officials on issues along the shared border. In the Flathead River Basin, the FBC would continue to represent Montana’s interests.
The FBC has also been involved in the ongoing Crown of the Continent Manager’s Partnership, a process that encourages a higher level of information sharing and cooperation among natural resource agencies in Alberta, BC and Montana. An annual forum, regular committee work and a website are ways in which the CMP process is benefiting the FBC and other agencies.
Additionally, British Columbia remains an active participant in the FBC’s activities. The BC Liaison to the FBC regularly attends FBC functions and provides updated information on issues of mutual concern.
Watershed Planning & Nutrient Reduction
If a picture is worth a thousand words, images of projects undertaken on several streams in the Ashley Creek watershed speak volumes of what the FBC and its partners have accomplished in this important drainage west of Kalispell.
During the past two years, almost $600,000 was received through a variety of funding sources (U.S. EPA, 319 Grant, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Future Fisheries) for projects to improve water quality in Ashley, Truman and Mount creeks. The largest, over $280,000 awarded by the EPA’s national Watershed Initiative, is being used to reduce sediment runoff into Mount Creek from the nearby Flathead County road and into Flathead Lake through a buffer zone installation at Salish Point in Polson. The FBC projects were included in a Tri-State Water Quality Council proposal that involved a coalition of western Montana watershed groups. The proposal was the EPA’s number one choice for funding from among over 100 submissions nationwide.
Other work included stream bank restoration and livestock fencing projects on Ashley, Truman and Mount creeks, and work to fortify a fish barrier on Mount Creek, insuring the protection of a small but important resident population of purebred cutthroat trout.
Additional grant-funded work undertaken by the FBC and its consultants (Kirk Environmental, Watershed Consulting and Land and Water Consulting) included an assessment of airborne nutrient loading in Flathead Lake, watershed assessments of Ashley Creek and the Stillwater River, groundwater quality assessment of the Flathead Lake perimeter and the North Flathead Valley, and work on TMDL plans for Ashley Creek, the Whitefish and Stillwater rivers, and urban storm water. Many of these projects are ongoing, and additional funding is being sought for other projects to reduce non-point source pollution.
Partnerships & Processes
Successful efforts to protect and improve water quality in a rapidly growing watershed like the Flathead Basin would be next to impossible without the involvement of the widest possible range of partners. Individual citizens, non-profit organizations, community groups, businesses, industry and government agencies all need to be active participants in this important process. Without their informed involvement, chances of achieving significant improvements to water quality would be slim.
Fortunately, the FBC is far from alone in this basin-wide effort. In virtually every corner of the Flathead, examples abound of how individuals and organizations are partnering to deal with water quality issues in their neighborhood. Here’s a brief summary of some of the partnerships and processes that, during the past two years, have worked to make the improvement of water quality a priority:
The Flathead Lakers: Recognizing that their efforts to protect the water quality of Flathead Lake must extend far beyond the lake’s shores, this citizen’s group has focused its recent efforts on protecting highly vulnerable areas of the North Flathead Valley and the Flathead River Corridor. Their Critical Lands Project has partnered with an extensive number of agencies and NGOs to improve water quality through research studies, education outreach and efforts to secure funding for projects in riparian areas and wetlands.
The Swift Creek Coalition: This process is focused on Swift Creek, the primary tributary to Whitefish Lake. The Whitefish-County Water and Sewer District, Plum Creek, DNRC, the FBC and others are involved in an advisory role. The SCC has received grant funds to improve water quality and TMDL studies to prepare for an even more comprehensive approach to protecting this important stream.
Swan Lake Watershed Technical Advisory Group: Facilitated by the Swan Ecosystem Center at Condon, this citizen-led group worked with DEQ to produce a TMDL for the Swan. The effort has involved extensive information gathering and monitoring.
Ashley Creek & Stoner Creek Watershed Groups: After several years of intensive citizen involvement to achieve consensus on a desired course of action to improve water quality in their neighborhoods, these two processes have attracted grant funding to carry out watershed assessment and restoration projects.
Flathead River Headwaters TMDL: The Flathead National Forest and U.S. EPA are partnering on this important project in some of the basin’s most remote tributaries. The FBC, FNF and other agency partners have received grant funding to do watershed restoration work in Coal Creek and several other tributaries.
Glacier National Park: A major upgrade of the Lake McDonald/Park Headquarters wastewater treatment facility has been completed, resulting in dramatically improved effluent quality and a marked improvement to local water quality.
These are but a few of the ongoing processes in the Flathead that represent a determination to protect and improve water quality and involve partners to make the most effective use of scarce financial and human resources.
Volunteer Monitoring
The FBC’s Volunteer Monitoring Program continues to provide an important service to the community and a vital link between the FBC and local residents.
Since its inception in 1992, over 100 area residents have been trained to conduct water quality monitoring activities on lakes, streams and wetlands. The lake program, a pioneer effort in Montana and the largest such adult volunteer project in the state, involves the most participants and produces the most data. To date, over 50 sites on three-dozen lakes have been monitored, producing baseline water quality information that would not exist if it were not for the efforts of the FBC volunteer monitors.
An estimated 7,000 data reports have been filed, and volunteers have contributed over 10,000 hours of work to the project. Data is made available to whomever requests it, and has been used by state agencies, local planning boards, non-profit organizations, lake associations and others as evidence of water quality conditions and trends on basin lakes. During 2004, additional volunteers were recruited on a number of lakes, including Flathead, Swan and Lake Mary Ronan. In 2005, the FBC will work with the Flathead Lake Biological Station to compile and analyze data gathered for the past 13 years. A report will be published and widely distributed.
Stream monitoring, initiated in 1998, will recruit and train additional volunteers in 2005. Additional grant funds are being sought for the wetland monitoring program, and the FBC is scheduled to collaborate with the Montana Watercourse to further develop the program in the coming two years.
The FBC also provides training assistance and equipment to area schools who have stream monitoring programs for their students.
FBC Stewardship Award
Coldwell Banker Wachholz & Company Real Estate, a firm with offices in eight Flathead area communities, was named recipient of the FBC’s “Stewardship Award” in 2004. Only five awards have been granted by the FBC since the recognition was established a decade ago.
The company was singled out for the honor because of an innovative training program for new realtors it instituted two years ago. The training goes far beyond what is legally required to become a licensed realtor and emphasizes, among a wide range of topics, specific information that will allow agents to provide clients with advice related to Best Management Practices for waterfront property.
Since the training program was activated, the FBC has conducted an ongoing series of workshops for over 50 new real estate agents. The trainees also receive informational briefings from a number of local and state agency experts on land use planning regulations, water rights, and other environmental-related topics.
The “Stewardship Award” is designed to recognize citizens, organizations and businesses in the Flathead who demonstrate an exceptional awareness of water quality issues and take extraordinary means to address them. The award also underscores the importance of agency-private sector partnerships in achieving water quality education and pollution reduction goals.
