07/02/2024
WADSWORTH PARK USERS
Since 1995, thousands of kids and adults have participated in Walleyes Unlimited’s kids fishing day at Wadsworth Park. Thousands of free fishing rods and tackle boxes have been given away to our City’s youth, donated by various local organizations. Along with the free stuff are educational presentations for our next generation of anglers and outdoor lovers.
Walleyes Unlimited and the City installed a fishing dock, and the park has restroom facilities, picnic tables, and improved parking.
Fish Wildlife & Parks stocks the lake with rainbow trout and walleye, along with an occasional yellow perch, and recently noted that with recently improved water levels, the fishery is the best it has been in years.
Electric City Disc Golf and community sponsors recently finished a new disc golf course at Wadsworth Park, featuring 18 holes that will take you on a lovely walk around Wadsworth Lake and the Sun River using natural topography features to create a fun and unique course.
The Sun River Watershed Group and local volunteers have spent time pulling weeds and planting trees at Wadsworth Park.
Obviously, there is community supporting the city-owned Wadsworth Park and its Lake.
One huge part of that community is the West Great Falls Flood Control & Drainage District (hereafter “Flood District”). You see, Wadsworth receives its water from the Sun River, and is part of the flood control system created by the US Corp of Engineers (hereafter “Corp”) when they built the Sun River Levee. There is a small structure, planned and built as part of the original project, constructed of reinforced concrete and anchored by helical piers and designed to prevent flotation, later movement, collapse or damage by flood waters. This structure houses the lake drain for Wadsworth Lake, which is the primary source of water for the lake. The pipe drainage structure has a gate that has to be manually opened and closed to let water to and from the Sun River into Wadsworth Lake. The lake drain was used in the past to fill Wadsworth during spring run-off of the Sun River. However, the high cost of cleaning the silt out of the pipe annually had prohibited that practice since 2015. The cost of clearing this drain is covered entirely by the taxes of those who live in the Flood District, with no assistance from Cascade County, the City of Great Falls, or taxpayers who do not live in the Flood District.
As the Flood District prepared for its 2020 5-year pipe inspection with the Corp, it was necessary to de-water and clean the drain, which cost was in excess of $7,100.00. By this time, the level of the lake had dropped to a point where it was becoming hazardous to the fish population and the water quality adversely affected recreation opportunities. The boat dock was sitting on dry land, and the lake water level was at an extreme low, making any kind of access difficult. It was difficult to get even a kayak to the water without wading through mud, and any swimming or water sports in the lake were curtailed by poor water quality.
However, the pipe was now clean, and Flood District Commissioner Ed Rogers began the daunting task of filling Wadsworth Lake. Now, the Flood District has no responsibility for filling the Lake. Commissioner Rogers not only filled the lake in 2020, but he has continued to fill it whenever the opportunity arises, however, a solution is needed that will help keep the drainage structure in the Sun River clear of silt and allow for cleaning the pipe for filling and/or draining the lake. Wadsworth Lake is a ponding area for a 100-year storm event and should be drained to protect the surrounding properties in a significant flood event. This would not be possible with a plugged pipe.
Due to changes in the banks of the Sun River since the flood control project was completed in 1985, it has become extremely dangerous and hard to access the current drain structure. A new structure would cost about $60,000, not including permitting and engineering fees.
In March of 2021, Flood District Commissioner Rogers and Fish Wildlife & Parks Employee Jason Mullens worked on a grant request, and ultimately received a grant of $43,000 from FW&P Fishing Division for improvements to the Flood District lake drain structure.
The district has 3 years to use the money.
Setbacks have been the Corp first approving the project, then rescinding their permission due to deciding they needed more information. This was provided by Commissioner Rogers. Ultimately, the Corps issued both Section 404 and Section 408 permits without requiring a hydrological study.
But in order to actually perform the work, the Flood District needs a Flood Plain Permit from Cascade County. The Flood Plain Administrator is now requiring a hydrological study before issuing any permit. This study would cost $20,000 to $25,000, which is roughly 20% of the Flood District annual operating budget. The Flood District has spent over $15,000 in surveying and engineering fees and the permitting process so far.
Commissioner Sandy Mares feels the flood plain administrator filed the job incorrectly as a “Large” project which cost $700, when it should be a “Small” project with a $400 fee and would not require a hydrological study. Unfortunately, it appears the Administrator gets to decide that, despite the difficulty for a layperson to understand why a structure with such a small footprint, which has existed here since the project was completed, could possibly be so significant. The project has been approved by federal and state authorities as meeting the levee standards, and in fact, the Corps, acutely aware of not creating a flood rise situation in the flood plain associated with flood control works, would have required a hydrological study if there were even a remote chance of a base flood elevation rise. They did not.
Commissioner Roger has been working on filing a variance with the Cascade County Commission. That is another $700, and it is unlikely that Cascade County would make a decision prior to the Grant expiring. City Park and Recreation have declined to help due to a lack of funds, despite Wadsworth being a City park.
The Fish Wildlife & Parks Grant ends in September, and it now appears unlikely the Flood District will be allowed to utilize the Grant. The Flood District will be unable to fill the lake with any regularity, and it will quickly decline, drastically impacting the fishery as well as recreational opportunities for the citizens of Great Falls.
As for me, your author – I enjoy kayaking at Wadsworth. I appreciate the improvements made by so many community partners and the opportunities presented by this beautiful park on the outskirts of our town. I am disheartened that the efforts of so many to create this unique green space are likely to be undermined by the needless red tape of a bureaucratic process that fails to recognize the reality of what has occurred here.
In 2021 Jason Mullens at Fish Wildlife and Parks noted “In 2019 the pond levels were very low and we were hardly able to catch fish for our tank display. Kids rarely were able to catch a fish on kids fishing day, but I’m sure they would be able to now.”
In 2019, the boat dock was on dry land. Give it a year or so, it likely will be again.
A big thank you to my friend, fine tuner of details and editor, Aspen Northerner.
