Screening and Q&A Presented by the Clark Fork Coalition
The Water Keepers, and Stories of Water Across the Landscape
Hosted by:
Clark Fork Coalition
Clark Fork Coalition
Join us for an evening of films exploring water, restoration, resilience, and stewardship across Montana. From Tribal water rights and decades of scientific monitoring to stream restoration in Missoula and innovative efforts to protect native fish populations in Lolo Creek, these stories highlight the people and partnerships shaping the future of water across the landscape.
The screening will feature The Water Keepers, Restoring Resiliency: The Miller Creek Story, and A Life Saving Fish Screen for Lolo Creek, followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and producers.
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The Water Keepers
Director: Daniel Glick
Producers: Robert McDonald and Casey Ryan
The Water Keepers chronicles the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ groundbreaking water-measurement program launched in 1982. Over four decades, tribal scientists installed and maintained a comprehensive network of stream gages across the Flathead Reservation, replacing theoretical projections with measurable data.
That scientific record ultimately laid the groundwork for the CSKT Water Compact — a landmark water rights settlement approved by the Montana Legislature, ratified by Congress, and signed into law in 2020. While the Compact became one of the most scrutinized measures in Montana legislative history, the film reveals how its success rested on decades of disciplined measurement demonstrating how water truly moves through the landscape.
Selected as one of eight finalists competing for the 2026 Big Sky Award, The Water Keepers brings forward the voices of leaders, technicians, and scientists whose sustained work shaped the future of water management in the region.
Restoring Resiliency: The Miller Creek Story
Filmmaker: Josie Harris
Producers: Clark Fork Coalition, Missoula Conservation District
Partnerships between government agencies, non-profit organizations, and landowners in the Miller Creek watershed, have begun to restore the stream and its riparian corridor to address the damages caused by past management. These efforts cumulatively are making a difference that will build resilience in the landscape for generations to come.
A Life Saving Fish Screen for Lolo Creek
Producers: Clark Fork Coalition
For nearly a century, a single irrigation ditch on Lolo Creek in western Montana trapped and killed thousands of fish each year, decimating native trout populations. In 2021, the Clark Fork Coalition and partners installed an innovative fish screen that reduced fish entrainment to zero.
The screening will feature The Water Keepers, Restoring Resiliency: The Miller Creek Story, and A Life Saving Fish Screen for Lolo Creek, followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and producers.
_________
The Water Keepers
Director: Daniel Glick
Producers: Robert McDonald and Casey Ryan
The Water Keepers chronicles the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ groundbreaking water-measurement program launched in 1982. Over four decades, tribal scientists installed and maintained a comprehensive network of stream gages across the Flathead Reservation, replacing theoretical projections with measurable data.
That scientific record ultimately laid the groundwork for the CSKT Water Compact — a landmark water rights settlement approved by the Montana Legislature, ratified by Congress, and signed into law in 2020. While the Compact became one of the most scrutinized measures in Montana legislative history, the film reveals how its success rested on decades of disciplined measurement demonstrating how water truly moves through the landscape.
Selected as one of eight finalists competing for the 2026 Big Sky Award, The Water Keepers brings forward the voices of leaders, technicians, and scientists whose sustained work shaped the future of water management in the region.
Restoring Resiliency: The Miller Creek Story
Filmmaker: Josie Harris
Producers: Clark Fork Coalition, Missoula Conservation District
Partnerships between government agencies, non-profit organizations, and landowners in the Miller Creek watershed, have begun to restore the stream and its riparian corridor to address the damages caused by past management. These efforts cumulatively are making a difference that will build resilience in the landscape for generations to come.
A Life Saving Fish Screen for Lolo Creek
Producers: Clark Fork Coalition
For nearly a century, a single irrigation ditch on Lolo Creek in western Montana trapped and killed thousands of fish each year, decimating native trout populations. In 2021, the Clark Fork Coalition and partners installed an innovative fish screen that reduced fish entrainment to zero.
Duration: 90 min