North Fork Jocko Tabor Diversion

Project Overview

The North Fork Jocko Tabor Diversion Project is located at the intersection of the North Fork Jocko River and the Tabor Feeder Canal, approximately 1.5 miles downstream of North Fork Jocko Falls. The purpose of the project is to address reliability, operational, and environmental issues by replacing the diversion structure.

The original facility, built in 1924, consisted of a concrete diversion dam spanning the North Fork Jocko River. The facility is owned and operated by the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project (FIIP). Water diverted at this facility enters the Tabor Feeder Canal and is conveyed several miles to Tabor Reservoir (St. Mary’s Lake). This trans-basin diversion from the Jocko watershed to the Mission Valley supplies over 15% of the Mission Valley’s irrigation water supply, and serves as the primary inflow to Tabor Reservoir.

Prior to modernization, this critical irrigation infrastructure was in significant disrepair with multiple structural, operational, and environmental deficiencies. These included deteriorated concrete and diversion gates, worker safety issues, and lack of any fish screening in the canal. Additionally, the structure impeded natural sediment movement, adversely affecting water quality and significantly degrading aquatic habitats upstream. This irrigation modernization project aims to comprehensively address these deficiencies and reconnect stream habitat for native fish, protect Bull Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout, and improve long-term reliability for irrigators and other water users. Construction activities will occur over the next four years. During construction, the Tabor Feeder Canal road will be closed. Please see map for additional details.

T he primary objectives of the Project are as follows:

1) provide water diversion from the NF Jocko and conveyance flows from the Middle Fork Jocko River, to Tabor Reservoir via the Tabor Canal

2) provide means of passing bedload downstream of the diversion during runoff and/or flushing of accumulated bedload

3) provide fish passage upstream of the diversion

4) provide screening of the Tabor Canal and fish bypass for downstream migrants to the NF Jocko below the diversion structure.