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BiOp Efforts Science Science Process Current Actions Monitoring Research Protected Species Important Links Emergent Sandbar Habitat Shallow Water Mitigation Environmental Impact Land Acquisition Mitigation Documents Mitigation Meetings Cottonwood Forest Flow Modification Drainage Monitoring Groundwater Monitoring Yellowstone Intake Yellowstone Intake The Lower Yellowstone Project diverts water from the Yellowstone River approximately 70 miles upstream from the mouth. The project consists of Intake diversion dam (a 12-foot high wood and stone structure that spans the Yellowstone River), headworks, main canal and laterals which irrigate approximately 55,000 acres on 500 farms in eastern Montana and western North Dakota. Bureau of Reclamation began construction of the Lower Yellowstone Project in 1905. The Corps is a joint lead agency for the Intake Dam Modification Project, because the Service suggested in their Missouri River Master Manual biological opinion (2000 and 2003 amendment) that the Corps work with Reclamation to provide passage for pallid sturgeon at Intake Diversion Dam as a conservation recommendation and as an adaptive management action for Missouri River recovery. Section 3109 of the 2007 Water Resources Development Act authorizes the Corps to use funding from the Missouri River Recovery and Mitigation Program to assist Reclamation with compliance with federal laws, design, and construction of modifications to the Lower Yellowstone Project for the purpose of ecosystem restoration. Issue Intake Diversion Dam likely has impeded upstream migration of the endangered pallid sturgeon and other native fish for more than 100 years. In addition, monitoring indicates that an average of 500,000 fish of 36 species are annually entrained into the main irrigation canal. Pallid sturgeon are one of the rarest fish in the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The declining population of mostly mature pallid sturgeon in the Yellowstone River is expected to be locally extinct by 2018 if reproduction and survival of young fish does not occur. According to USFWS, "the value of restoring the Yellowstone River as a natural migratory route for sturgeon and making the middle Yellowstone function as a spawning and nursery grounds for pallids cannot be overstated." Goal The proposed federal action would modify Intake Diversion Dam and main canal headworks to improve passage for endangered pallid sturgeon and other native fish in the lower Yellowstone River and reduce entrainment of fish into the Lower Yellowstone Project main canal while still delivering the full water right to the Lower Yellowstone Project. © 2007, MRRP. Contact us for more assistance. Banner Photo: Nebraska Land Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission