Reconnect

Fish Rescue Programs
TU to the rescue! Each fall, two Wyoming TU Chapters (East Yellowstone & Upper Green River) hit local irrigation ditches armed with waders, thick rubber gloves, nets and electroshocking equipment.  With landowner permission, volunteers set out wading canals just after irrigation water is shut off for the season, using an electroshocking device to net the fish and then transfer the fish back to their home river.  With dropping water levels and cooler temperatures, fish left in canals usually die.  Wyoming Game and Fish is currently working on a study to determine what percentage of fish populations are lost to canals.

This project is one way Chapters provide a direct positive service to the fish populations, while raising awareness among landowners and other citizens the impacts unscreened irrigation canals can have on fish.  The long term goals of these projects include working with land and ditch owners to make these structures more 'fish friendly' by blocking fish passage without adding maintenance or extra work for the landowner.

 

 

Grade Creek Project

Dewatered Grade Creek channel has been without water for 75 years. A cooperative project between TU and the landowners will once again resconnect this Bonneville cutthroat spawning habitat to downstream rivers.

TU's Wyoming Water Project teamed up with the Upper Green River Chapter in 2006 to reconnect Grade Creek to the Smith's Fork of the Bear River near Cokeville, WY.  The tributary had not had enough water to complete its course to the Smith's Fork for nearly 75 years but TU has helped the landowner improve his irrigation system by installing a “fish friendly” diversion structure and transitioning to a more efficient sprinkler system.  The tributary will reconnect historic access to spawning and rearing habitat for native Bonneville Cutthroat Trout sometime in 2008.  

 

We reformed parts of the channel and added rocks, and eventually vegetation so the channel is ready for next spring's flows.