FIIP crews fix deteriorating spillway
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ST. IGNATIUS — High snow packs and the potential for serious flooding have kept Flathead Indian Irrigation Project Manager Gordon Wind and his crews busy this summer.
In five days FIIP crews fixed a deteriorating spillway at Crow Dam by removing and replacing 65 feet of concrete. They started on June 13 and finished the job on June 17. They dug under the foundation of the spillway because it had been washed out and a cavity had formed underneath the floor, leaving it suspended three feet high above the ground.
“It was more of a dam safety issue,” Wind said. “It needed to be done urgently.”
He said crews worked quickly because there was a concern about leaving the spillway unprotected with the potential for flooding in the area.
“It was very quick and our crews worked long hours, some pulling double shifts to finish on time,” Wind said. He added that his crews set up lights so they could work into the night.
Crews also had to work extra fast because a contractor from Denver was arriving to apply shotcrete, which is a spray on concrete.
“This is absolutely phenomenal,” Alan Mikkelsen, secretary of the FIIP, said. “With record snowpack there has been very little serious flooding in Mission Valley due in large part to Pete (Plant) and Gordon’s active and aggressive management of streams and reservoirs.”
According to Mikkelsen, reservoirs this season were filled at a slower rate because local streams were kept as high as possible without flooding over the banks. He said the typical method of “filling and spilling” the reservoirs usually floods streams due to the large amount of water being released. There are about six large reservoirs in the Mission Valley and three smaller off-stream ones.
Wind said the next project he would like FIIP crews to tackle is to finish putting a membrane liner on the Jocko Canal. The liner keeps water from leaking from the ditch into the ground. Started last year, Gordon said he would like to finish the project as soon as the water season ends.
The FIIP was created in 2010 and is comprised of eight members. The Flathead Joint Board of Control and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes each appoint four members. Prior to 2010, the Bureau of Indian Affairs managed and controlled local water. Members of FIIP are usually people who are farmers or ranchers and are familiar with water control and regulations.
“Local control is much more efficient than federal control,” Mikkelsen said.
Since the weather is warming up and people are starting to irrigate in the valley, FIIP reminds residents to get permission to use water first by calling their local ditch rider. The FIIP has had a couple of instances where one resident would get permission to use the water, but when they turned on their pump, someone up stream would take the water, nearly causing burned-up water pumps. Residents are also reminded to call their ditch rider or FIIP 48 hours in advance of the time they want to use water and 24 hours before turning it off.
