Trail Creek Fish Passage

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Located near Seeley Lake, Montana, Trail Creek is a third order tributary to Morrell Creek in the Clearwater River drainage.
In 2015, RDG was retained by Big Blackfoot Chapter of Trout Unlimited (BBCTU) to prepare an engineered design to improve fish passage
conditions and eliminate entrainment of native westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout into an existing, unscreened irrigation canal.
Project objectives included: 1) eliminating fish entrainment for all salmonids age 1+ and older; 2) providing upstream fish passage for
all sizes of salmonids at all flow levels by upgrading the existing diversion structure and removing the existing pin and plank structure;
3) installing a stable diversion structure that passes bedload, minimizes deposition in the diversion forebay, passes fish, and delivers a
the prescribed water to the irrigators; and 4) maintain minimum instream flows necessary to maintain fluvial connectivity and fish passage at all flows levels.

The project was successfully implemented in 2015.