Location:

Tin Cup Creek is located in the upper Bitterroot Basin just west of the town of Darby, Montana.  Tin Cup Creek originates high in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area of the Bitterroot Mountains.  It flows from Tin Cup Reservoir northeast-east for approximately 15.5 miles to the confluence with the Bitterroot River.

Background:

• Fisheries: Native fisheries habitat (Westslope Cutthroat Trout & Bull Trout). This stream is also a very important Rainbow Trout spawning stream.
• Impacts: The upper 10 miles of Tin Cup Creek is located in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and offers great fisheries habitat, while the lower 4.5 miles is listed as chronically dewatered by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Dewatering through this reach is due to over-allocation of water rights, which allows irrigation diversions to divert more water than the stream can supply.
• Status: The Coalition currently leases the senior-most water rights on Tin Cup Creek. These leased water rights are associated with the lowest point of diversion on the stream, before its confluence with the Bitterroot River. This is an ideal location for senior water rights dedicated to instream flow, as the stream must flow continuously from its source to reach the Coalition's point of diversion.

Streamflow Restoration on Tin Cup Creek

Project Details

(corresponding to numbered map locations)

1 - Waddell Ditch Point of Diversion: project location

Duration:  10 Years  (2005 - 2015)

Flow Rate Protected:  4.3 cubic feet per second instream during irrigation season, throughout the arid summer months, each year.

Location: 1.5 miles upstream from confluence with the Bitterroot River