TMDL Documents Project Outreach
Completed TMDLs in the Blackfoot River Watershed
Page Contents:
Project Area Location & Included Streams
The Blackfoot Watershed TMDL project area encompasses the entire Blackfoot River watershed. The watershed lies in west central Montana, spanning portions of Lewis and Clark, Powell, and Missoula counties, and includes the communities of Lincoln, Helmville, Ovando, Clearwater, Greenough, and Potomac. The Blackfoot River forms northeast of Lincoln and flows westward until it joins the Clark Fork River near the towns of Milltown and Bonner, MT.
Previous TMDL work has been completed in the Blackfoot River watershed, with 124 TMDLs written collectively in 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2009. For prior TMDL planning purposes, the watershed was divided into four TMDL planning areas: Blackfoot Headwaters, Middle Blackfoot, Lower Blackfoot, and Nevada Creek (see Map 1 below). Previous TMDL work was completed in each of these planning areas at varying stages, and documents were published accordingly. The Completed TMDLs in the Blackfoot River Watershed page contains a list of completed documents and the TMDLs they contain.
The current project involves metals, nutrients, sediment, and temperature TMDL development. Nine nutrient TMDLs have already been completed for multiple tributaries in the Lower Blackfoot planning area and were approved by EPA in September 2013 (a list of completed TMDLs and associated water quality sampling information can be found on the Completed TMDLs in the Blackfoot River Watershed page). There are still an additional nine TMDLs to be written within the other three TMDL planning area boundaries. (see Map 1 and Table 1 below).
Map 1: Blackfoot Watershed TMDL Project Area
[Click on map to enlarge]
Map 1 shows the Blackfoot River watershed divided into the Blackfoot Headwaters (gray shaded area), Nevada Creek (tan shaded area), Middle Blackfoot (light green shaded area), and Lower Blackfoot (pink shaded area) TMDL planning areas. Together, they compose the Blackfoot Watershed TMDL Project Area.
Table 1: TMDLs to be Written in the Blackfoot River Watershed Project Area (Table Updated April 2014)
TMDL PLANNING AREA
|
STREAM &
LOCATION DESCRIPTION
|
METALS
TMDLS
|
SEDIMENT
TMDLS 1
|
TEMPERATURE
TMDLS 1
|
Blackfoot Headwaters
|
Sandbar Creek
Forks to mouth (Willow Creek)
|
|
X
|
|
Nevada Creek
|
Douglas Creek
Headwaters to Murray Creek
|
Arsenic
|
|
|
Douglas Creek
Murray Creek to the mouth (Nevada – Cottonwood Creeks)
|
Arsenic,
Iron
|
|
|
Nevada Lake
Reservoir of Nevada Creek
|
|
X
|
|
Murray Creek
Headwaters to mouth (Douglas Creek)
|
Arsenic
|
|
|
Middle Blackfoot
|
Blackfoot River
Nevada Creek to Monture Creek
|
|
|
X
|
Blackfoot River
Monture Creek to Belmont Creek
|
|
|
X
|
Kleinschmidt Creek
1.5 miles upstream to mouth (North Fork Blackfoot River)
|
Arsenic
|
|
|
1. “X” indicates a TMDL will be written
|
For complete information on each stream’s probable impairments, causes, and sources, and to view full water quality assessment reports, see DEQ’s Clean Water Act Information Center and search by the applicable TMDL planning area name (Click on “Search,” choose the "By Location" tab, and then select the applicable planning area from the TMDL Planning Area (TPA) drop down list).
Project Plans & Schedule
All TMDLs for this project will be completed before the end of 2014. Specific schedule and planning information for each pollutant group is detailed below.
Draft documents available for advisory group review can be found on the Blackfoot Watershed TMDL Documents page.
For project status updates and information on stakeholder and public meetings, visit the Blackfoot Watershed TMDL Project Outreach page.
Map 2: TMDLs to be Completed in the Blackfoot Headwaters, Middle Blackfoot, & Nevada Creek TMDL Planning Areas
(Click on map to enlarge)
Metals TMDLs
Metals TMDLs are being published as an addendum to the Middle Blackfoot – Nevada Creek TMDL document that was completed in 2008 (see the Completed TMDLs in the Blackfoot River Watershed page). The draft TMDLs are currently available for advisory group review and comment and are posted on the Blackfoot Watershed TMDL Documents page. The full addendum will be available for public comment in 2014. Note that we are not revising previously completed TMDLs; only completing new TMDLs.
Metals Water Quality Sampling & Impairment Determinations
One high-flow (June) and one low-flow (July) water quality sampling event for metals took place in the Nevada Creek and Middle Blackfoot planning areas in 2013. All streams identified on the 2012 list of impaired waters as impaired for a metal were sampled (see Table 2 below). A table and map of sampling locations can be found in the 2013 metals sampling and analysis plan (1.76 MB) (note that this SAP also includes other TMDL project areas). All sampled streams were assessed for metals impairment following DEQ's Metals Assessment Method in 2013 and TMDLs are only being written for streams determined to be impaired (Tables 1 and 2). Table 2 shows the metals impairments identified in the "2012 Water Quality Integrated Report" and the updated impairment determinations. Updated assessment results are reflected in the recently published "2014 Water Quality Integrated Report."
Data collected over the last few years indicated Elk and Union creeks in the Lower Blackfoot TMDL Planning Area were not impaired for metals, therefore additional sampling was not conducted on these streams, and metals TMDLs were not written in the Lower Blackfoot TMDL Planning Area.
Table 2: Metals Impairments & Updated Assessment Results
TMDL Planning Area
|
Stream & Location Description
|
Metals Impairments in the 2012 IR 1
|
Updated Impairment Status /
2014 IR Listings 2
|
Nevada Creek
|
Douglas Creek
Headwaters to Murray Creek
|
Arsenic
|
Arsenic
|
Douglas Creek
Murray Creek to the mouth (Nevada – Cottonwood Creeks)
|
Arsenic
|
Arsenic
Iron
|
Nevada Creek
Headwaters to Nevada Lake
|
Cadmium,
Mercury
|
Not Impaired (Delist)
|
Murray Creek
Headwaters to mouth (Douglas Creek)
|
Arsenic
|
Arsenic
|
Middle Blackfoot
|
Kleinschmidt Creek
1.5 miles upstream to mouth (North Fork Blackfoot River)
|
Arsenic,
Copper
|
Arsenic
|
1. Impairments included in the “2012 Water Quality Integrated Report” (IR).
2. Metals water quality assessments were performed by DEQ in 2013. Updated metals impairment determinations are reflected in the “2014 Water Quality Integrated Report.”
|
Sediment TMDLs
Sandbar Creek and Nevada Lake are impaired for sediment (see Map 2 above). Sufficient data exists for these waterbodies, therefore additional data was not collected. The Sandbar Creek sediment TMDL is being written as an addendum to the 2004 "Blackfoot Headwaters Water Quality and Habitat Restroation Plan and TMDL for Sediment," whereas the Nevada Lake sediment TMDL will be an addendum to the Middle Blackfoot – Nevada Creek TMDL document that was completed in 2008 (see the Completed TMDLs in the Blackfoot River Watershed page). Because the TMDLs are being produced in separate documents, they have separate project managers (see the Project Contacts table below). Both addendums are scheduled to be available for public comment in 2014. Please note that we are not revising previous TMDLs; only completing new TMDLs.
Both the Sandbar Creek and Nevada Lake sediment TMDLs are available for advisory group review and comment, and is posted on the Blackfoot Watershed TMDL Documents page.
Temperature TMDLs
The portion of the Blackfoot River between Nevada Creek and Belmont Creek is identified as impaired for temperature (see Table 1 and Map 2 above). This stretch of the river composes two waterbody segments (Table 1), resulting in two TMDLs that are being written as an addendum to the Middle Blackfoot - Nevada Creek TMDL document that was completed in 2008 (see the Completed TMDLs in the Blackfoot River Watershed page). The addendum will also include the metals TMDLs discussed above and the sediment TMDL for Nevada Lake.
The draft temperature TMDLs are available for advisory group review and comment on the Blackfoot Watershed TMDL Documents page. The full adendum is scheduled to be available for public comment in 2014.
Sufficient temperature data existed for the river and additional data was not collected during this project.
Nutrient TMDLs (Lower Blackfoot TMDL Planning Area)
The "Lower Blackfoot Nutrients TMDLs and Water Quality Improvement Plan" was approved by EPA in September of 2013. The final document is available on DEQ's Final TMDL Documents webpage. Copies of the document are also available at the Seeley Lake public library (456 Airport Rd, Seeley Lake) and the Blackfoot Challenge office (405 Main St., Ovando). Responses to public comments are contained in Section 9.2 of the document.
A public meeting was held Thursday, July 18 at 7 p.m. at the Potomac Community Center. Paul Kusnierz gave a presentation and discussed the draft document. The presentation is available on the Project Outreach page, and the public notice is still available with additional meeting details. Additional information on the nutrients TMDLs, including water quality sampling data, can be found on the Completed TMDLs in the Blackfoot River Watershed page on this site. Contact Paul with any questions at: pkusnierz@mt.gov or 444-4205.
Project Contacts
Project Member *
|
Role / Organization
|
Email
|
Phone
|
Peter Brumm (EPA) |
Metals Project Manager,
Nevada Lake Sediment Project Manager
|
brumm.peter@epa.gov |
(406) 457-5029
|
Paul Kusnierz (DEQ)
|
Lower Blackfoot Nutrients Project Manager,
Blackfoot River Temperature Project Manager,
Sandbar Creek Sediment Project Manager
|
pkusnierz@mt.gov |
(406) 444-4205
|
Jennifer Schoonen |
Blackfoot Challenge
blackfootchallenge.org
|
jennifer@blackfootchallenge.org
|
(406) 793-3900 or
(406) 549-2502
|
* This is a joint project between the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Montana Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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Page Released: June 22, 2012
Last Updated: July 25, 2014