ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1985 Clark Fork Symposium Proceedings
(Hardcopies available through all Montana University System Libraries
and the Montana State Library)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Cover Illustrations
Foreword
Invited Papers
Concluding Remarks

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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We of the Coordinating Committee extend our appreciation to Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology for the use of their facilities and for helping with other arrangements of the symposium. Thanks to the Supporters for helping make possible the publication of the Proceedings and for bringing in speakers. We offer special gratitude to each of the authors who gave of their time and helped make the symposium successful. The invited papers published herein received anonymous technical review and we deeply appreciate the time and effort of the reviewers. Our very special appreciation is given to Miss Marilyn Harris, Intermountain Research Station, Missoula, Montana, for doing the final typing- and layout for this Proceedings, and to Mr. Bryan Owen, Intermountain Research Station, for his help in cover design and other artwork.

COVER ILLUSTRATIONS
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Right--The Colorado Tailings at Butte, Montana, contain toxic heavy metals that contaminate ground water and the adjacent Silver Bow Creek, in the headwaters of the Clark Fork River. These tailings contribute to a complicated, persistent, and serious pollution problem in the upper river. (See "Hydrogeology of the Colorado Tailings" by Ted Duaime and others.)

Left--The Clark Fork River 20 miles east of Missoula, Montana appears serene and uncontaminated to the casual eye. However, toxic heavy metals from the Butte-Anaconda area have pervaded much of lower Clark Fork and are a perplexing problem. (See papers by Rice and Ray; Johns and Moore; and Phillips.)

FOREWORD
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By 7:05 p.m. on November 10. 1983, over 300 people had crowded into and overflowed the City Council Chambers at Missoula. Montana. The occasion was the hearing before the Montana Department of Health and Environmental Sciences on a request by Champion International Corporation for a modified permit to discharge treated wastewater year round from its kraft paper mill at Frenchtown. This event, I think more than any other in recent times focused public attention on the beleaguered Clark Fork River and served as a catalyst for action.

And the time was ripe for action. Three Superfund sites and a major reclamation project had been created to deal with the spoils and derelict machinery left over from a century of mining in the river's headwaters. The Anaconda Company had ceased operations at Butte and had begun negotiating for the sale of its properties. The U.S. Forest Service was beginning to write long-range plans for resource management on lands covering 60 percent of the watershed. Public agencies were about to prepare applications to keep water flowing in the Clark Fork. The City of Anaconda needed a new wastewater treatment system; Montana Power Company needed a safer dam at Milltown. And two companies were announcing plans to build major gold and silver mines one at each end of the river.

The quality of the Clark Fork River became a regional issue involving parts of three States. Connections real or fancied were drawn between such distant and disparate locales as the Colorado Tailings and Milltown Dam (Montana) between the City of Missoula (Montana) wastewater effluent and Lake Pend Oreille (Idaho) and between the Champion Mill (Montana) and the underground aquifer that waters the City of Spokane (Washington). People began to think of the Clark Fork less as a river of convenience and more as a complex but troubled ecological system teetering on the brink of greatness or disaster depending on one's perspective.

In the 2 years since that hearing in Missoula, the Superfund projects have achieved a full head of steam. Water heaters have been replaced in Milltown to remove the last residues of arsenic and Montana Power Company has made plans to reconstruct Milltown Dam. "Pro-river" conservationists organized the Clark Fork Coalition with satellite groups from Deer Lodge to Sandpoint. The Clark Fork River Basin Project was established in the office of the Montana Governor. And regional conferences dealing with water quality issues in the Clark Fork drainage were held in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene.

But in those same 2 years we have witnessed the death of hundreds of fish below the Warms Springs Ponds following an afternoon thunderstorm in 1984, the river going nearly dry at Dempsey during the normal spring high flow period in 1985, and a vertical drawdown of Noxon Reservoir in excess of 35 feet earlier this year. Perhaps more unsettling to river watchers has been the proposed Baucus Amendment to the Superfund law following the announced sale of Anaconda properties to the Washington Corporations of Missoula.

Over 30 studies addressing some aspect of water quality in the Clark Fork River are in progress or have been completed recently. Many of these were featured at the Clark Fork River Symposium held April 19. 1985. at Montana Tech in Butte. But some people are getting impatient with studies and planning saying we need to put men and machines to work on the ground in order to realize any tangible improvements. Others claim that only nature and time can undo what man has done and that there is no "quick fix" for the Clark Fork.

It's true. Studies alone will not clean up the Clark Fork. But studies--good studies--like the ones reported in these proceedings provide bases for intelligent action. Compared to the wealth of minerals and other resources extracted from the drainage of the Clark Fork River the cost of these studies is a pittance. And they save money in the long run.

LOREN L. BAHLS, Helena, Montana, November 10. 1985

The following 11 papers were invited by the Coordinating Committee to demonstrate the current condition of the Clark Fork River. The flow of the subject matter parallels the flow of the river; the first paper discusses problems at the river source and the last paper summarizes studies from the source downstream to Lake Pend Oreille. The papers are technical and provide the most current data available at the time of the symposium.

    Today's symposium has demonstrated once again, the deep interest and optimism Montanans have for restoring the resource potential of the Clark Fork River. The registered attendance list numbers more than 150, including many from our neighboring States of Idaho and Washington. On behalf of the planning committee and sponsors of the symposium. I want to thank the attendees, participants and supporters for making this meeting a success.
    Scientists from many disciplines have joined here to report their study results--each has added new insight to the dynamics of an abused ecosystem, but most importantly, their work provides a basis for preparing and implementing reclamation and management plans for the future. It is essential that we begin these remedial programs and plans now. Funding will always be a limitation but we must pursue corrective actions.
Many of the primary sources of toxic pollutants at the headwaters are being addressed by the "Superfund" remedial investigations. These are complex sites worthy of detailed investigations and planning. We are encouraged that substantial clean-up activities have already begun.
    The upper river has responded remarkably to the cessation of mining and the wastewater treatment program implemented more than 30 years ago. This resilience of the natural system is encouraging, but fish mortalities following a summer thunderstorm and exceedance of water quality criteria during spring runoff are reminders of the river's vulnerability to even mild disturbance.
    The stabilization of mining waste deposits in the upper river flood plain must be a high priority. Restoring riparian stability and agricultural production in such a large area is a major undertaking with many unique problems. The process can be started, however, with relatively simple techniques such as fencing riparian zones and restoration of channel integrity in the most contaminated and erosive areas.
    The problems of the lower river are equally important, but less distinct, Evidence of water quality deterioration has been reported by residents as far downstream as Lake Fend Oreille. Collection of definitive data for such a large water volume as the lower river requires sustained and intensive monitoring. Such programs were initiated in Montana in 1984 and, with funds authorized by the legislature, the monitoring will continue through 1987. A continued monitoring program will be necessary to assess changes in water quality and to minimize conflict when enforcement decisions are required. A coordinated and cooperative monitoring program shared by agencies in Montana and Idaho is needed to cope with economic and population growth without sacrificing the unique environmental qualities that have attracted visitors and residents alike to the region.
    Water resource management strategies must be developed to provide adequate year-round flows for instream uses such as fisheries, recreation, esthetics, and water quality control. New demands for the Clark Fork waters will intensify. Without protection of minimum flows, even the most expensive and sophisticated wastewater treatment will not be adequate to meet the desired water quality conditions.
Cooperative programs are needed also to identify and protect critical habitat for fish in tributary streams, to reduce sedimentation, and to minimize water level fluctuations in the lower river reservoirs. Each of these tasks will improve our opportunity to develop a vigorous sport fishery in the lower river.
    Today's symposium is evidence of the range of projects underway in the Clark Fork basin. In 1984, many diverse groups, including environmental groups, private citizens, the Montana Environmental Quality Council, and members of industry urged State government to develop a comprehensive water quality study and management plan for the Clark Fork River. Governor Schwinden responded to the requests by establishing the Clark Fork Project within his office. The project, initiated with a grant from the Anaconda Minerals Company, is working to coordinate the many agency efforts, to establish cooperative monitoring programs and interagency agreements, and to secure funds for the necessary monitoring and reclamation projects. The Clark Fork Project offers an unusual opportunity for all interest groups to be included in planning for the future of the Clark Fork River basin. There is no question that the results will be worth the effort.

HOWARD E. JOHNSON, Coordinator, Clark Fork River Basin Project, Governor's Office, Helena, Montana