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<br />UPPER MISSOURI SUBBASIN <br /> <br />FLOODING <br /> <br />Urban and Built-Up <br />Spring runoff causes urban flooding at many locations. Some of the more <br />severe problems appear at Great Falls on the Sun River, Roundup on the <br />Musselshell River, and Glasgow and Nashua on the Milk River. <br />Rural <br /> <br />Rural flooding is common along the Milk, Judith, Musselshell, Sun, Upper <br /> <br /> <br />Marias and Cut Bank Creek tributaries, and tributaries to the Gallatin, <br /> <br /> <br />Jefferson, and Madison River. Flooding causes stream bank erosion and often <br /> <br /> <br />adversely affects irrigation pumps, roads, bridges, fences, and removes land <br /> <br />from production. <br /> <br />FISH AND WILDLIFE <br /> <br />Riparian Habitat <br /> <br /> <br />Riparian habitat destruction is a major problem on many streams in this <br /> <br /> <br />subbasin. Major reasons for this loss of habitat are agricultural practices <br /> <br /> <br />being carried out up to the edge of the stream, livestock pasturing in the <br /> <br /> <br />riparian zone, highway and railroad development, and second home construction. <br />While recent concern has greatly increased, no comprehensive inventory has been <br />undertaken to identify where specific lands have been damaged. <br />Fisheries Habitat <br />The high-quality fishery along Grasshopper Creek and Wise River is <br />threatened by mine drainage from old copper, lead, gold, and silver mines in <br />the area. Thermal pollution in the Madison River below Ennis Lake degraded the <br />quality of that river's fishery. Other problems common throughout the subbasin <br />affecting fisheries include irrigation return flows, erosion due to improper <br />land-use practices, municipal outflows, and dewatering on many streams. <br /> <br />H-2 <br />