The result is there’s simply not enough water left instream for the bull trout to survive. In drought years, which are ever more frequent in the West, the diversion takes upwards of 90% of the river’s flow. In most years, the West Side Ditch takes 50% or more of the entire flow of the Upper Clark Fork in mid-to-late summer. Yet every year a massive amount of the Upper Clark Fork’s scarce water is diverted into the West Side irrigation ditch to grow hay to feed cattle and horses on the Grant-Kohrs ranch, which is owned and operated by the National Park Service as a historic site and “cultural display” of a working ranch from the late 19 th century. It is absolutely necessary to ensure the river contains enough water to support the aquatic ecosystem, dilute what heavy metals still leach into it, and provide the clean, cold and connected river system that bull trout require to exist. Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent trying to restore life to this embattled river by removing toxic tailings from its banks. The Upper Clark Fork is also part of the nation’s largest Superfund site having suffered severe pollution from flushing a century of toxic mining and smelting wastes down the river. The Clark Fork River is federally-designated as “critical habitat” for bull trout, which have been listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act since 1999.
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