LOLO — Parts of Lolo Creek are drying up faster than the last days of summer. Some stretches between Highway 93 and the Bitterroot River have no water at all.
“Seeing really low water or no water in certain parts of Lolo Creek is unfortunately not too out of the ordinary. We're obviously in an extra low water year. Drought is really impacting us,” said Vivaca Crowser, an education program manager with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Crowser said it is not too unusual considering the low snowmelt and hot, dry weather this year. When the water level is already low, upstream irrigation can put added pressure on the creek. Crowser said FWP and other agencies work with water right-holders to balance their needs with those of the habitat.
“Lolo Creek is one example of many where we work with those that have water rights, a lot of partners do too, to see what we can do to try to have a shared approach to sacrificing some of that water back to the creek for the habitat there,” she said. “A lot of landowners that have really helped out in that way but, when you get conditions like this, it's just really hard to totally overcome that in a lot of cases.”
The low levels have impacted everything that lives along the creek, including the fish.
“In these times where we have no water in certain stretches, obviously the fish in those stretches just don't make it,” Crowser said. “But, again, this is something that we try to mitigate as best we can. Overall, it's going to have some level of impact on the fish over time, but we still have a sustaining population in the creek of lots of different trout.”
MTN has also heard reports of beaver dams along some parts of the creek. These can hold back water, sometimes leaving enough to give fish and others animals a place to live. Officials ask people to please leave wildlife and their habitat alone.
