U.S. Water News Online
DILLON, Colorado -- A program that paid some southwestern Montana ranchers to forego summer irrigation water, for the benefit of struggling fish, was a waste of taxpayers' money, critics say.
But others say the program by the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service may have tipped the scales to help keep the Arctic grayling from a court-ordered emergency listing as an endangered species.
The program paid ranchers in the Big Hole River valley $774,163 this summer to turn off irrigation head gates early, or to build livestock watering systems not dependent on Big Hole water.
The program arose after drought left the river nearly dry in the Wisdom Bridge area, considered a stronghold for the last remaining population of fluvial Arctic grayling in the 48 contiguous states.
An environmental group sued the federal government earlier this year, attempting to force protection of grayling under the Endangered Species Act. Officials with the Natural Resources Conservation Service stepped forward, saying they had $1 million for a program that would pay ranchers to shut off irrigation water early or establish watering tanks for livestock.
From the outset, officials called the program a stopgap and agreed that longer-term solutions were needed to protect grayling in drought years.
Fifteen ranchers chose to participate in the program. Others in the Big Hole area agreed to turn back irrigation water, but said they did not expect payment.
Then, in June, it started raining. Soon there were requests for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to disclose who was getting money, and how much.
Kris Berg, Dillon conservationist for the service, said that before contracts were complete, the agency could not disclose participants' names and how much cash they received. She also said that under new federal restrictions, information such as how much land a rancher claimed went without irrigation, for purposes of the program, was confidential.
That irritates rancher Jack Hirschy, who questions whether all who signed up for payments deserved what they got. Without seeing acreage information, he said, there is no way to determine whether the public was cheated.
"You just can't say that they'd done the right thing or not without that kind of information," said Hirschy, who advocated voluntary water conservation and did not join the payment program. "I do think that most of them didn't care a darn thing about the fish until this program showed up."
Whether from the program, the summer rainfall or a combination of the two, the Big Hole River at the Wisdom Bridge never dropped below the critical level for grayling.
Randy Gazda of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state fish biologist Jim Magee said that may have helped head off a court decision to list the grayling as a protected species.
After members of the Big Hole Watershed Committee said they wanted to support the conservation service's program, directors of the Beaverhead Conservation District agreed to cooperate, said Art Christensen, district chairman.
"We have a lot of respect for (the watershed committee)," Christensen said. "We've worked with them for years."
The board signed off on all contracts but one, and it was the largest, at $188,020. Because it topped $100,000, that contract had to be signed at a regional office.
Christensen said that although he is not sold on the water program, people must be careful in their criticism.
"We shouldn't demonize all of these people," he said. "Most of these families have been giving back water without compensation for many, many years."
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