Trumbull Creek flood work proposed

Staffers at the Kalispell Department of Natural Resources and Conservation office have applied for a $28,000 departmental grant to pay for rehabilitation of part of Trumbull Creek.

Larry Van Rinsum said he presented the grant request Tuesday to state officials. Exactly when a decision will be made is uncertain, he said.

If the grant is obtained, the intention is to rehabilitate 1,800 feet of Trumbull Creek near its crossing with U.S. 2 at Columbia Falls.

That section of the creek is manmade, having been constructed in the 1920s. It floods nearly every year, he said.

If the funding is obtained, the two sides of the levee along Trumbull Creek would be reconstructed to be the same height, sediment would be dredged out and vegetation that has been deemed detrimental would be removed from the stream bank, Van Rinsum said.

All those measures are designed to decrease flood potential.

Because that stretch of Trumbull Creek is manmade, the rehabilitation work is allowed, DNRC Supervisor Mark Siderius said.

“There are very few pieces of stream we could even do this kind of work on,” he said, “because it’s not a natural stream.”

If the request is granted, the work is expected to occur this fall. The Corps of Engineers and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have input into the project, too, Siderius said.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.