MISSOULA — The Clark Fork River is an important aspect of the Missoula landscape, but over time, urban development and use have led to the deterioration of parts of the river.
For over five years, the City of Missoula has hoped for an expansive river project to address habitat health, public recreation and city connection. This fall they were able to start the initial steps of the project and are asking for public comment on the initial plans.
The project will span the section of the Clark Fork from McCormick Park to the California Street Bridge. It is a partnership between Missoula Parks and Recreation, the Missoula Public Works and Mobility Department, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, Trout Unlimited and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
“This is a large project both in scope and scale,” Morgan Valliant, ecosystem services superintendent for the City of Missoula, says. “It's something that we're hopefully only going to do once, so we want to get it right. It's also, you know, really a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and so it's really important that we identify all the issues and opportunities that are in this reach.”
Valiant — who has been on board with the project says the earliest talks — says it will likely take many years and millions of dollars to achieve. It wasn’t until 2021 that steps were taken to get the project off the ground.
In November of 2021, the city purchased the Flynn-Lowney Ditch from the Hellgate Valley Irrigation Company which gave them jurisdiction over the section of the river they hoped to address.
“That really suddenly gave us the latitude to move the project forward because at that point the city now owns park and open lands on both sides of this reach, they own the ditch, and so we really only have one entity to work with,” Valliant says. “So our opportunities and the ability to move this project forward really came to fruition when the ditch was acquired.”
This year, they were able to secure funding from the Missoula Redevelopment Agency to start planning and collecting data for the project, which began in August.
Missoula Parks and Recreation is asking for public comment on their initial plans until Sept. 21, 2023, and the comments will be compiled with the gathered data to create a final design this winter.
“We’ve really developed good goals and priorities for the project,” Valliant says. “And that's exactly what we're asking the public to comment on– our issues and opportunities, making sure that we have documented them all. And then reaffirming and adding to and making sure we didn't miss any goals or priorities.”
The City’s initial goals include cleaning up the shoreline, which is filled with waste from Missoula’s old sawmills. They will also look at improving recreational access.
“Most of the section, there are very few ways for the public to actually get to the river,” Valliant says. “And the Clark Fork River, of course, is a major amenity for our community and folks generally want to access the river and so accommodating that access we're also talking about the possibility of, you know, any other instream recreational features that might be a part of the project.”
By adding channels, Valliant says they will be able to increase the complexity of the river flow, and therefore improve wildlife habitat.
“This site's really unique in the sense that we do have a wide floodplain,” he says. “We do have an island, we do have opportunities for side channels, ways to increase complexity in an urban environment and that complexity within a river system is what creates good spawning grounds for trout, good wildlife habitat and cover for terrestrial animals as well."
After the final design is released to the public this winter, Parks and Rec will look further into permits, fundraising and engineering. The Missoula Redevelopment Agency has only agreed to fund the initial planning this fall, so additional funds will be needed to start construction.
Find out more information, including exact maps, on the West Broadway River Corridor Project website.
