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and other warm water fish have an unlikely ally, third-generation farmer and irrigator Roger Muggli.
Muggli oversees the operation of the Tongue and Yellowstone Diversion Dam (also known as the 12-Mile Dam), which provides water to about 300 farm families, including his, in the Yellowstone Valley near Miles City in eastern Montana. Since the dam was built more than 100 years ago, it has entrapped fish in irrigation canals and prevented them from accessing their native spawning habitat in the lower Tongue. Roger decided to do something about it.
A celebration
Now, Roger is about to realize his long-held dream: the completion of a fish-bypass canal around the dam. Dignitaries, supporters and the media will gather at the site on September 19, 2007 to dedicate the channel in Roger's honor. As a highlight of the event, Roger will open the gates allowing water to flow through the channel. Maybe we'll see sauger, channel catfish, sturgeon and other warm water fish swim upstream for the first time since 1886.
The Nature Conservancy, the local irrigation district and numerous state and federal agencies provided technical and financial support for the project.
Some of these groups supported Roger in a previous effort to construct a fish screen to prevent fish from getting trapped in irrigation canals. The project also brought needed improvements to the dam itself.
"The great thing about this project," said the Conservancy's Burt Williams, "is the enthusiastic leadership of a local ag producer and irrigator to pull together these groups to solve a problem for the fish that also benefits the local irrigators. This is exactly the kind of project the Conservancy supports for the Yellowstone." |
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Roger Muggli at 12-Mile Dam
© Tana Kappel/TNC |
Fixing other dams on the Yellowstone
The same coalition working to build the fish-bypass canal is working to fix other dams in the Yelllowstone River system that have been obstacles to many species of warm water fish. In 2005, the Conservancy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with multiple state and federal agencies creating the foundation upon which a $30 million fish-bypass fix can be brought to a major diversion dam on the Yellowstone, the Intake dam. This project could be pivotal in preserving the pallid sturgeon, an ancient fish species endangered by profound human modifications to the Missour River system.
Pallid Sturgeon facts:
- The pallid sturgeon evolved when dinosaurs roamed the earth -- during the late Cretaceous period 70 million years ago.
- With its flattened shovel-shaped snout, bony plates and long reptile-like tail, the pallid sturgeon even looks like a dinosaur.
- Its habitat extends from the Missouri River in central Montana to St. Louis, the Yellowstone River of eastern Montana, and the Mississippi River from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico.
- One of the largest fish in these river systems, pallid sturgeon can weigh up to 80 pounds and reach lengths of six feet.
- Though this incredible creature has survived over the millennia, its future is in doubt. In 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added the pallid sturgeon to its endangered species list. Its decline is due to habitat loss caused by profound modifications to the Missouri River for flood control and navigation, and in the Yellowston system, spawning habitat loss from irrigation systems.
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