Chessman Reservoir is 10 miles southwest of Helena. This photo was taken from Red Mountain, looking toward Helena. Chessman is one of the two storage reservoirs for Helena's Tenmile Water Treatment Plant. The other is Scott Reservoir. The Red Mountain Flume ( 7 photos) runs around the north side of Red Mountain from west to east, transporting water from Banner Creek to Chessman Reservoir during the spring and summer. During winter when runoff is scarce, an outlet is opened allowing water from Chessman to flow into Beaver Creek, which takes it down to Tenmile - and eventually into the treatment plant. CLICK HERE to see a map of the area. You can zoom in on the map to see Banner Creek and the Red Mountain Flume. One of the major issues with the flume is that it is very old (photo by Matt Elsaesser) BACK