HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-27-07_Hyalite Canyon Winter Use and Road Plowing_12
Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Brian Heaston, Project Engineer
Chris Kukulski
SUBJECT: Hyalite Canyon Winter Use & Road Plowing
MEETING DATE: August 27, 2007
RECOMMENDATION: Staff does not support winter plowing of Hyalite Road without first upgrading
the road to an acceptable winter use standard through the use of guardrail or other
means.
BACKGROUND: Winter traffic to the Hyalite watershed will potentially increase significantly this
coming winter and years to come due to the efforts of the Forest Service to increase accessibility to the
watershed by allowing wintertime plowing of Hyalite Road. Increases in vehicular volume to the Hyalite
drainage, coupled with hazardous wintertime driving conditions, are apt to enhance the accident rate as
well as the potential for contamination to Hyalite Creek from automotive fluid spills.
Hyalite Canyon is renowned as a world-class ice climbing venue and also offers great opportunities for
backcountry skiing and snowmobiling. The Southwest Montana Climbing Coalition has ultimate plans to
see the ice climbing area designated as a national recreational area, which would further increase winter
use of the watershed. Easing winter access by plowing increases risk to the source water quality of the
City’s primary water supply.
The extent of the plowing on Hyalite Road will be determined by the available Forest Service funding. If
funding allows, plowing will occur all the way to the Blackmore day-use area at Hyalite Reservoir. If
funds are insufficient to maintain the road to the reservoir, the plowing would stop at Langhor
Campground. If plowing to Langhor cannot be afforded, then the road will be plowed, as it has in the
past, to the “fishing access” just upstream of the Hyalite intake in the lower portion of the canyon.
The Forest Service has agreed that they will not utilize sand or salt in their plowing practices due to the
detrimental effects these activities have on the water quality of nearby streams, but they have seemed to
overlook automotive fluids leaks resulting from vehicular accidents. To understand the significance of an
increased contamination risk in the Hyalite watershed, a brief synopsis of the City’s raw and treated water
supplies is warranted.
The City has two sources of treated water: The Sourdough Treatment Plant and the Lyman Treatment
Plant. The Sourdough Plant receives raw water from intakes on two separate drainages: Hyalite Creek
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and Sourdough Creek. The intake on Hyalite Creek is located in the lower portion of the Hyalite Canyon,
several miles downstream from Hyalite Reservoir.
During the winter months, the Lyman Treatment Plant supplies around 700,000 gallons per day (gpd) to
the City distribution system. During the winter the Sourdough Creek supply is severely limited or even
nonexistent, leaving the primary source of raw water for the Sourdough Plant to the Hyalite intake at
times. Typical water use in the winter is on the order of 4,000,000 gpd; therefore, the Sourdough
Treatment Plant is supplying approximately ¾ of the City’s treated water during the winter months, which
is almost entirely being taken from the Hyalite watershed.
Automotive fluid contamination poses a serious threat to the Sourdough Treatment Plant, as the treatment
technology employed there has no tolerance to treat these contaminants. Any significant fluid spill
upstream of the Hyalite intake would almost certainly result in a city-wide “do not use” order; even any
doubt of contamination would force the order. Lifting of the restriction may only occur if water quality
testing indicates that the intake water wasn’t contaminated, but several of these tests take days to
complete and must be sent to a certified testing laboratory, which Bozeman does not have. A large
enough spill could potentially damage the Sourdough Plant to the point where all filter media would need
replacing, which requires 24 semi-loads of media of a very specific type and gradation.
The Forest Service engineer overseeing the plowing operation has determined that $18,000 will be
sufficient for the entire winter plowing effort. The Forest Service will more than likely be looking for
participation from both the City and the County to help subsidize this expense. The City has not budgeted
for this expense and if it chooses to participate it will be supporting an activity that increases the risk of
watershed contamination, where the focus must instead be placed on watershed protection.
Should the City become involved in discussions regarding funding of the plowing operation, emphasis
needs to be placed upon upgrading the current roadway to an acceptable winter standard. Lengths of the
road border Hyalite Creek with steep embankments that do not have guardrail in place to prevent a
vehicle from sliding off the roadway into the watercourse. Mitigation of possible threats to the water
supply must be the primary emphasis with the increased accessibility to the watershed.
FISCAL EFFECTS: Unknown at this time.
Respectfully submitted,
_________________________________ ____________________________
Brian Heaston, Project Engineer Chris A. Kukulski, City Manager
Report compiled on August 22, 2007
cc: Project File
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