Last week water was allowed to flow through a newly restored Clark Fork River channel flowing through the old Milltown Dam reservoir site, near Missoula, Montana.  Over the past few years the river was diverted into a man-made bypass channel to allow the removal of the dam and vast quantities of contaminated sediment.  The sediment removal uncovered the original floodplain, through which a new channel was created. Now, the Clark Fork River once again meanders across its floodplain at the confluence of the Blackfoot River.

Below are several photos of the confluence area where the dam once blocked the river.  You can see the bypass channel on the left, and then to the right a meandering new channel. Eventually the bypass channel will be blocked off and totally dewatered.

Here are before and after shots of the valley:

Before:

After:

Here is a close up of the confluence area before, just starting to flow with muddy water::

And after:

And lastly, here is what the confluence looked like as the water was rushing through its new channel (center):

Watching the river slowly rise in its new channel was certainly an exciting river restoration milestone. 

We would like to thank the many people that made this restoration project a success!  Happy Holidays!