Kalispell presents site-specific analysis of Ashley Creek; report submitted to DEQ

Public Works Director Susie Turner and an HDR consultant summarized a multi‑year Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) for lower Ashley Creek and said the city submitted a draft UAA to DEQ on Jan. 28, 2025.

The report, Turner said, was intended to ensure “Kalispell’s future investments are based on scientific knowledge and protects the actual water quality and beneficial uses of Ashley Creek.” Turner and Ricky Schultz, a project manager with HDR, told the City Council the analysis examined water quality, geomorphology and aquatic life across an extensive reach of Ashley Creek and upstream to Smith Lake and downstream toward the Flathead River.

The studies covered five summers of sampling and included continuous monitoring equipment, nutrient diffusing substrates, algal and macroinvertebrate surveys and a geomorphology profile. Schultz said the geomorphology work showed the lower creek is low‑gradient, U‑shaped, often influenced by Flathead River backwater and lacks gravel recruitment in its lower reaches — physical traits that differ from the “western Montana wadeable stream” standard DEQ typically applies.

Schultz said a UAA is “a structured…