Muddy Creek: One Landowner’s Contribution to a Cooperative Effort

This aerial photo of Muddy Creek shows the abandoned ox bows, high banks, and meandering path of the stream as it was in the mid-1960s.

Until recently, Muddy Creek was aptly named. It contributed 200,000 tons of sediment to the Sun River annually and was one of the top five nonpoint source polluters in Montana, according to Montana Department of Environmental Quality statistics.

“The problem that developed on Muddy Creek was due to a series of events that significantly increased erosion over time,” said Alan Rollo, coordinator for the Sun River watershed group. “Now, we’re working as a team to solve these problems.”

Local landowners, conservation districts, and other partners formed the Muddy Creek task force in 1994. Since that time, there has been an 80 percent reduction in the amount of sediment flowing from Muddy Creek into the Sun River.

Skip Neuman and other landowners like him have been instrumental in changing the look of Muddy Creek.

“Skip Neuman and his family have used almost every tool available to convert lands that have been overgrazed to a beneficial use and provide erosion control for muddy creek,” said Rollo. “Skip has been one of our key producers in making things happen on the ground.”

The Neuman family started using conservation programs offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in 1993, which helped them fence off stretches of Muddy Creek and plant thousands of trees.

“Every year, we lost footage to erosion and we were constantly moving fence, but now I can see improvement, no doubt about it,” said Neuman, a landowner north of Choteau, Montana.

This stretch of Muddy Creek located on Skip Neuman's ranch is now managed more closely to improve water quality and stream health. What were once bare banks are now filling in with grasses and shrubs that help to hold the soil in place.

Over the past 10 years, Neuman has built ponds to slow and filter excess irrigation water that flows into Muddy Creek through NRCS conservation programs. Neuman also created seven acres of surface water and added wildlife food plots.

“We love to watch wildlife. That’s probably why we did it really. I saw the wildlife come in and just kept on doing it,” said Neuman. “It actually hurt my hunting because my wife made it a no hunting zone here around the house so that the ducks, and deer, and everything have a sanctuary.”

This wetland is one in a system of wetlands, ponds, and wildlife food plots that attracts an abundance of wildlife to the Neuman ranch.

The Way It Used to Be

Muddy Creek is 42 miles long and drains about 200,000 acres of cropland and rangeland in the Sun River Watershed, which flows from the front range of the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri River at Great Falls.

Historically, Muddy Creek was a narrow, well-vegetated channel that only carried flows in the spring. With the increase of irrigated cropping, flows increased to about 500 cfs by the 1960s, contributing to the erosion of more than 200,000 tons of silt annually.

This photo of Muddy Creek, taken in 1936, shows the well-vegetated banks of a stream that ran water only in the spring.

NRCS has been one of several key partners working to decrease erosion along Muddy Creek. In the very early stages of the partnership, NRCS spent hundreds of hours surveying the land along Muddy Creek. This information was used by the Bureau of Reclamation to develop a comprehensive plan that addressed the many resource concerns of landowners and partners.

About 500 rock barbs, 13 drop structures, and several projects to improve irrigation efficiency have been completed along Muddy Creek to slow water and initiate natural bank sloping and revegetation.

Other partners include the Greenfield Irrigation District, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and Cascade and Teton conservation districts. These partners have provided equipment, labor, funding, and technical assistance to the Muddy Creek taskforce.

"Teamwork is really the key to this successful effort and the team continues to address the issues that affect Muddy Creek and the surrounding area," said Rollo.

Rock barbs installed in key locations have helped to slow water, which has reduced erosion and allowed banks to revegetate naturally.

Last Modified: 04/18/2005