Initial Analysis of Water Quality Changes on Muddy Creek

The Muddy Creek Task Force and the US Bureau of Reclamation constructed eleven grade control structures and more than three-hundred bank stabilization structures between 1994 and 1996 as part of the Muddy Creek Demonstration Stream Restoration project. Under Reclamation sponsorship, the US Geological Survey operates a water quality sampling station at Vaughn, Montana, below the restoration reach of Muddy Creek, and since 1995 at Gordon, Montana, above the restoration reach. Initial water quality data indicates a decline in sediment transport in Muddy Creek over the past 25 years. This paper is an analysis of the initial sediment transportation data from these two gaging stations.